PURPOSE: Results of 181 percutaneous needle aspiration biopsies performed with an 18-gauge needle during a period of 3 years were analyzed to determine efficacy and safety of the procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biposies were performed in patients that could not be diagnosed by bronchoscopy or sputum cytology. The biopsy procedure with 18-gauge Crown needle was guided by fiuoroscopy. The biopsy specimen placed in 10% formalin solution were histologically confirmed. RESULTS: In 160 patients(89%), the positive diagnosis was made by percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy. There were 153 lung lesions(120 malignant and 33 benign lesions) and 7 mediastinal lesions. the diagnostic accuracy of malignant and benign disease was 91% and 80% respectively. Complications included pneumothorax(n=11) and hemothorax(n=l):six of them required treatment with chest tube and the remainder showed spontaneous resporption. CONCLUSION: PCNB with an 18-gauge needle provided a reliable, relatively safe diagnostic tool to establish the diagnosis of both malignant and benign chest lesions.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Needle* ; Bronchoscopy ; Chest Tubes ; Crowns ; Diagnosis ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Lung ; Needles* ; Sputum ; Thorax*

PURPOSE: Results of 181 percutaneous needle aspiration biopsies performed with an 18-gauge needle during a period of 3 years were analyzed to determine efficacy and safety of the procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biposies were performed in patients that could not be diagnosed by bronchoscopy or sputum cytology. The biopsy procedure with 18-gauge Crown needle was guided by fiuoroscopy. The biopsy specimen placed in 10% formalin solution were histologically confirmed. RESULTS: In 160 patients(89%), the positive diagnosis was made by percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy. There were 153 lung lesions(120 malignant and 33 benign lesions) and 7 mediastinal lesions. the diagnostic accuracy of malignant and benign disease was 91% and 80% respectively. Complications included pneumothorax(n=11) and hemothorax(n=l):six of them required treatment with chest tube and the remainder showed spontaneous resporption. CONCLUSION: PCNB with an 18-gauge needle provided a reliable, relatively safe diagnostic tool to establish the diagnosis of both malignant and benign chest lesions.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Needle* ; Bronchoscopy ; Chest Tubes ; Crowns ; Diagnosis ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Lung ; Needles* ; Sputum ; Thorax*

BACKGROUND: Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is the most common type of pattern hair loss in women. It has been suggested that FPHL is associated with several serological abnormalities. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical characteristics and serological abnormalities of the Korean FPHL patients and to compare them with the data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V and other relative reports. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the age, duration and comorbidities in 264 Korean patients who have been diagnosed with FPHL. Serum levels of serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, hemoglobin, free thyroxine (T4), thyroid stimulating hormone, testosterone and 25-(OH) vitamin D were being investigated. RESULTS: FPHL was most commonly found in patients aged from 20 to 29 years old and 55% of the patients visited the hospital one year after the onset of FPHL. In FPHL patients, the levels of testosterone, hemoglobin, serum ferritin, 25-(OH) vitamin D, thyroid stimulating hormone were all significantly higher than the average Korean adult women. And, the free thyroxine level was significantly lower than the average Korean adult women. When analyzed according to the menopausal status, premenopausal FPHL patients showed significantly higher serum levels of hemoglobin, ferritin, and 25-(OH) vitamin D than those of the Korean adult women. But, the postmenopausal FPHL patients showed significantly higher serum levels of 25-(OH) vitamin D than those of Korean adult women. CONCLUSION: The levels of ferritin, testosterone and vitamin D of FPHL patients were elevated higher than those of the Korean adult women. To confirm these results in the future, further large scaled evaluation is suggested.
Adult ; Comorbidity ; Female* ; Ferritins ; Hair* ; Humans ; Iron ; Korea ; Nutrition Surveys ; Retrospective Studies ; Testosterone ; Thyrotropin ; Thyroxine ; Vitamin D

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death, and adenocarcinoma is the most common histologic subtype. MicroRNA is a small non-coding RNA that inhibits multiple target gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and is commonly dysregulated in malignant tumors. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression of microRNA-374a (miR-374a) in lung adenocarcinoma and correlate its expression with various clinicopathological characteristics.METHODS: The expression level of miR-374a was measured in 111 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lung adenocarcinoma tissues using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays. The correlation between miR-374a expression and clinicopathological parameters, including clinical outcome, was further analyzed.RESULTS: High miR-374 expression was correlated with advanced pT category (chi-square test, p=.004) and pleural invasion (chi-square test, p=.034). Survival analysis revealed that patients with high miR-374a expression had significantly shorter disease-free survival relative to those with low miR-374a expression (log-rank test, p=.032).CONCLUSIONS: miR-374a expression may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for predicting recurrence in early stage lung adenocarcinoma after curative surgery.
Adenocarcinoma ; Disease-Free Survival ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung ; MicroRNAs ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recurrence ; RNA, Small Untranslated

In branchial lymphoepithelial cyst (BLEC), which is also known as branchial cleft cyst, the remnants of a branchial arch develop into a cyst, causing swelling. The first case of BLEC in the parotid gland was reported by Hildebrant in 1895. Since then, BLEC in the parotid gland has continued to be reported, but in rare cases. A 45-year-old man presented to our hospital with a swelling of the left cheek of approximately 6 months’ duration. The patient underwent a superficial parotidectomy and was pathologically diagnosed with BLEC. Of note, this was the first case of non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related BLEC of the parotid gland in South Korea. BLEC is a benign condition, but its treatment depends on the presence of HIV infection. In HIV-negative patients, BLEC does not require a further work-up to evaluate metastasis. Our case report describes the diagnosis and treatment of BLEC in a patient without HIV.
Branchial Region ; Branchioma ; Cheek ; Diagnosis ; HIV ; HIV Infections ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Parotid Gland ; Salivary Glands

About 40% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis show extra-articular manifestations. The presence of rheumatoid nodules is the most common extra-articular manifestation, which is commonly seen at pressure points. Rheumatoid nodules can also occur in the lung, heart, and larynx. Laryngeal rheumatoid nodules may lead to phonatory and respiratory symptoms and can be mistaken for other medical conditions such as inflammation and neoplasm. Recently, we encountered a case of rheumatoid nodules involving the larynx in a 56-year-old woman with a 3-year history of rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. Herein, we report the case with a review of the literature.

Purpose: Mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) is a proto-oncogene that encodes a heterodimerictransmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase for the hepatocyte growth factor. Aberrant METsignaling has been described in several solid tumors—especially non-small cell lung cancer—and is associated with tumor progression and adverse prognosis. As MET is a potentialtherapeutic target, information regarding its prevalence and clinicopathological relevanceis crucial. Materials and Methods: We investigated MET expression and gene amplification in 113 gallbladder cancers usingtissue microarray. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate MET overexpression, andsilver/fluorescence in situ hybridization (ISH) was used to assess gene copy number. Results: MET overexpression was found in 37 cases of gallbladder carcinoma (39.8%), and geneamplification was present in 17 cases (18.3%). MET protein expression did not correlatewith MET amplification. MET amplification was significantly associated with aggressive clinicopathologicalfeatures, including high histological grade, advanced pT category, lymphnode metastasis, and advanced American Joint Committee on Cancer stage. There was nosignificant correlation between any clinicopathological factors and MET overexpression. Nodifference in survival was found with respect to MET overexpression and amplification status. Conclusion Our data suggested that MET might be a potential therapeutic target for targeted therapyin gallbladder cancer, because MET amplification was found in a subset of tumors associatedwith adverse prognostic factors. Detection of MET amplification by ISH might be a usefulpredictive biomarker test for anti-MET therapy.

The present study was attempted to investigate the effect of strychnine on catecholamine (CA) secretion evoked by ACh, high K+, DMPP and McN-A-343 from the isolated perfused rat adrenal gland. The perfusion of strychnine (10-4 M) into an adrenal vein for 20 min produced great inhibition in CA secretory responses evoked by ACh (5.32X10-3 M), DMPP (10-4 M for 2 min) and McN-A-343 (10-4 M for 2 min), but did not alter CA secretion by high K+ (5.6X10-2 M). Strychnine itself did also fail to affect basal catecholamine output. Furthermore, in adrenal glands preloaded simultaneously with strychnine (10-4 M) and glycine (an agonist of glycinergic receptor, 10-4 M), CA secretory responses evoked by ACh, DMPP and McN-A-343 were considerably recovered to some extent when compared with those evoked by treatment with strychnine only. However, CA secretion by high K+ (5.6X10-2 M) was not affected. Taken together, these results demonstrate that strychnine inhibits greatly the CA secretory responses evoked by stimulation of cholinergic (both nicotinic and muscarinic) receptors, but does not affect that by membrane depolarization. It is suggested that strychnine-sensitive glycinergic receptors are localized in rat adrenal medullary chromaffin cells.
(4-(m-Chlorophenylcarbamoyloxy)-2-butynyl)trimethylammonium Chloride ; Adrenal Glands* ; Animals ; Chromaffin Cells ; Dimethylphenylpiperazinium Iodide ; Glycine ; Membranes ; Perfusion ; Rats* ; Receptors, Cholinergic* ; Strychnine* ; Veins

OBJECTIVES: We performed a time series analysis in order to identify the relationship between the occupational injury rate and socio-economic factors, and through this predict the occupational injury occurrence rate. METHODS: We reviewed 168 sets of monthly data. For the statistical analysis, we used the economic index data provided by Statics Korea and the occupational injury index provided by the Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service gathered from 1994 to 2007. We performed a correlation analysis to find relationship between the occupation injury rate and economic factors. Using the correlation analysis result, we used time series analysis for the data in order to find out the association between occupational injuries and socio-economic indicators. We performed time series analysis to find out association occupation injury rate with socio-economic factors. In addition we ran a prediction occupational injury rate for 2008 and compared the result to the actual value. RESULTS: The factors associated with occupational injuries were the daily worker index (b=0.394, p<0.0001), the mechanical index (b=-0.023, p=0.0043), the manufacturing operation index (b=0.152, p<0.0001), the workers compensation coverage expansion (b=1.189, p=0.015), the IMF index (b=-2.05, p<0.0001), and the after IMF index (b=-1.565, p=0.01). The daily worker index, manufacturing operation index, and workers compensation coverage expansion had an effect that increased the occupational injury rate. Conversely, the mechanical index and IMF variable tended to decrease the occupational injury rate. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the daily worker index, manufacturing operation index, workers compensation coverage expansion, and IMF variables are related factors in regards to occupational injury.
Korea ; Occupational Injuries ; Occupations ; Workers' Compensation

Hypotensive episode is one of the serious complication during hemodialysis. HSD has used for relief of this problem, but sometimes increased interdialytic weight gain or exacerbation of hypotension are happened. To evaluate the effect of HSD, 7 non- diabetic normotensive uremic patients were hemodialyzed with different sodium level of dialysate (stage A : Na 138mEq/L for 4hrs, stage B : Na 148mEq/L for 4hrs, stage C : initially Na 148mEq/L for 3hrs and Na 138mEq/L for 1hrs), and each stages were continued for 2 weeks. Ultrafiltration was performed to maintain the patient's estimated dry weight constantly. Interdialytic weight gain(stage A : 2.9+/-1.2kg, stage B : 3.2+/-1.1kg, stage C : 3.1+/-0.8kg) and presystolic systolic and diastolic blood pressure were not different in each stage. The incidence of hypotension (systolic BP<90mmHg) during hemodialysis was significantly lower in stage B and stage C(24%, 21%) than stage A(54%)(P<0.01). During hemodialysis the incidence of thirst was higher in stage B(40%) than stage A and stage C(11%, 12%) (P<0.05) significantly but there are no difference in headache and itching during hemodialysis between the each stage. Pre-dialysis and post-dialysis serum sodium and osmolality were not different in each stage but at 2 hrs after initiation of hemodialysis serum sodium and osmolality were higher in stage B(145.6+/-2.1mEq/L, 306+/-6.7mOsm/kg) and stage C (146.1+/-2.1mEq/L, 306+/-13.1mOsm/kg) than stage A (140.1+/-2.5mEq/L, 292+/-8.7mOsm/kg)(P<0.05). The ANP levels of pre-dialysis and post-dialysis were not different in each stage. In conclusion, HSD improved hypotenive episode. In spite of sodium load, increased interdialytic weight gain and elevation of pre-dialysis blood pressure were not developed and sodium modeling during hemodialysis attenuate some adverse effect of HSD.
Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; Blood Pressure* ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Incidence ; Osmolar Concentration ; Pruritus ; Renal Dialysis ; Sodium* ; Thirst ; Ultrafiltration ; Weight Gain