Lymphangioma is composed of lymphatic tissue and filled with clear or chylous fluid that develops most often in the skin and subcutaneous tissue of neck but relatively rare in extremities. It is perhaps a congnital malformation rather than a true neoplasm, and so most of these lesions are usually present at birth and have a tendency to grow very slowly. If it is developed with a cavernous type of lymphangioma, it will have more aggressive and infiltrative tendency because their margin is usually adhesive with adjacent normal tissue. A case of cavernous lymphangioma on the right wrist of an eight month old female infant, treated by surgical excision is followed up over one year and presented here with a review of the literature.
Adhesives ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Lymphangioma ; Lymphoid Tissue ; Neck ; Parturition ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Wrist

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

PURPOSE: Entering a new century in the year 2001, Chungbuk National University Medical School (CNUMS) decided to adopt a fully integrative curriculum. This plan has been executed from 2002 to 2005. we are now at a point to assess this new curriculum and further improve it for the future. METHODS: We studied 'Curricula for Undergraduate' from Chungbuk National University and 'The Present Educational Status of Medical College' the Dean's Council of Korean Medical College published from 1987 to 2005. RESULTS: All lectures consisted of integrated lectures between the basic and clinical medical sciences. First and second year lectures focused on the horizontal integration of basic and clinical medical sciences, respectively. Also lectures between the first and second years formed longitudinal integration and purposeful repetition. Practical Classes were comprised of essential major clinical medicines and elective clinical medicines. Generally, lectures were reduced to introduce active learning subjects including problem-based learning (PBL), communicational skills, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) /clinical performance examination (CPX), basic clinical skills, community medicine, and health and society. CONCLUSION: The curriculum of CNUMS was changed from the traditional department-centered lectures to integrated organ-centered integrated lectures and practical classes. However, further innovation is required on the inside of curriculum.
Chungcheongbuk-do* ; Clinical Competence ; Community Medicine ; Curriculum* ; Educational Status ; Lectures ; Problem-Based Learning ; Schools, Medical*

CD44 is a family of transmembrane glycoproteins involved in cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Expression of CD44 isofonns (splice variants) has been shown to be associated with poor prognosis in several human cancers. We evaluated the expression patterns of the CD44 isofortn (CD 44 splice variant v6) in infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast by immunohistochemical and RT-PCR method. Paraffin embedded blocks from seventy-five cases of mastectomized samples were analyzed immunohistochemically using monoclonoal antibody against CD44v6. CD44v6 was detected in fifty-seven cases (76%) of the tumor samples. Adjacent normal myoepithelial cells and ductal epithelial cells revealed focal positive reaction to CD44v6. Thirtytwo cases (80.0%) with lymph nodal metastasis revealed overexpression of CD44v6 monoclonal antibody, but twenty-five cases (71.4%) without nodal metastasis also showed positive reaction to CD44v6 monoclonal antibody, and there is no statistically significant value. Other prognostic factors of infiltrating ductal carcinoma, such as tumor size, histologic grade and hormonal receptors did not show any significant correlation with CD44v6 expression. The RT-PCR studies for 9 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma showed the same band patterns both in the normal and tumor tissues. From the above results, it is concluded that the expression of CD44v6 is not a valuable prognostic marker of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of breast.
Breast* ; Carcinoma, Ductal* ; Epithelial Cells ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paraffin ; Prognosis

No abstract available.
Hyperthyroidism*

No abstract available.
Brain Neoplasms* ; Brain* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate lumbar epidural depth using two methods, and to identify the correlation between epidural depth and body mass index (BMI). METHODS: The anatomy of the lumbar epidural space was evaluated using MRI images in 124 patients (93 male and 31 female patients). Epidural depth was measured from the skin to the center of the posterior epidural space at the L3-4 and L4-5 level using two methods (in a parallel line to the lumbar spinous process [EP-I] and in a vertical line to the long axis of the spine [EP-II]). RESULTS: The mean +/- SD of epidural depth by EP-I was 4.82 +/- 1.16 cm at L3-4 and 5.08 +/- 1.08 cm at L4-5, and depth by EP-II was 4.18 +/- 0.97 cm at L3-4 and 4.78 +/- 1.02 cm at L4-5. The epidural depths were 3.71 to 4.37 cm (L3-4) and 4.36 to 4.65 cm (L4-5) in normal weight patients, 4.29 to 4.86 cm (L3-4) and 4.79 to 5.06 cm (L4-5) in overweight patients, and 5.16 to 5.87 cm (L3-4) and 5.79 to 6.16 cm (L4-5) in obese patients. CONCLUSIONS: Epidural depth showed a close correlation with BMI, but not with sex.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Body Mass Index ; Epidural Space ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Overweight ; Skin ; Spine

Primary carcinoma of the bile duct is uncommon but not rare and its prognosis is poor even though long-termsurvival had been reported. The authors presented 62 cases of bile duct cancer, which were confirmed at YUMC fromJan. 1971 to Dec. 1981. The results were as follows; 1. The most prevalent age group was 6th decade and a male-tofemale ratio was 1.9:1. 2. Jaundice was the most common clinical manifestations(84%), and followed by right
Bile Duct Neoplasms ; Bile Ducts ; Bile ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Common Bile Duct ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Prognosis ; Ultrasonography

Background: Fluvastatin is the first entirely synthetic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A(HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor. Clinical data indicate that this agent exhibits the proven efficacy of its class and also has some theoretical advantages in safety for long-term use because of its unique pharmacololgic property consistent with hepatoselectivity(i.e., low systemic exposure). This study is to evaluate efficacy and safety of fluvastatin in hypercholesterolemic patients in Korea. Methods: An open clinical trial with fluvastatin was conducted in 31 subjects who continued to have high blood cholesterol levels of 6.21 mmol/L(240 mg/dl) or greater after 1 month of lipid-lowering diet plus single blind placebo period. Fluvastatin was administered for 8 weeks with the initial dose of 20 mg per day and if serum cholesterol levels did not fall below 5.20 mmol/L(200 mg/dl) after 4 weeks the dose was increased to 40 mg per day for the second 4 weeks. On each visit every 4 weeks they underwent interview and laboratory tests about side effects and tolerability. Results: The mean % changes in plasma total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol from baseline were
Cholesterol ; Creatine Kinase ; Diet ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Korea ; Oxidoreductases ; Plasma ; Sleep Stages ; Triglycerides

BACKGROUND: Pacing-induced atrial electrical remodeling (AER) is characterized by shortening of atrial effective refractory period (A-ERP) and its altered rate adaptation. In paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), periods of AF occur with interveneing normal sinus rhythm (NSR) when atria recover from the preceding AER. Previous episodes of AF may precondition the atrial myocardium and cause different time course of AER in subsequent episodes of AF. But the influence of the preceding AER on the subsequent AER has not been described. METHODS: Four mongrel dogs were anesthetized with enflurane. After thoracotomy, silicon band with 3 pairs of electrodes was sutured to the lateral wall of the left atrium. Atrial pacing was performed after 2 wks of recovery and autonomic blockade. Pacing protocol consisted of rapid atrial pacing (RAP) at 500 bpm (for 60 min) and recovery in NSR (for 60 min) which was repeated three times. A-ERP was measured every 10 min. The same pacing protocol was repeated after pretreatment with verapamil (0.1 mg/kg/hr). RESULTS: 1) With 60 min of RAP, A-ERP decreased significantly (126+/-6 ms vs. 105+/-7 ms, p<0.005). 2) After cessation of pacing, A-ERP returned to 98% of baseline value in 15 minutes. Recovery from AER occurred faster than AER (78 vs 21 ms/h). 3) After pretreatment with verapamil, RAP decreased A-ERP from 127+/-5 ms to 116+/-5 ms. AER, the reduction in A-ERP, was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with verapamil (deltaERp=17+/-7 vs. 9+/-0.2 %, p<0.05). 4) When RAPs were repeated, AER showed a tendency of acceleration, but it was not statistically significant (deltaERp=22 ms, 24 ms, 28 ms at the end of 60 min pacing for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd pacing). CONCLUSION: RAP induced AER in conscious dog atria and it was reduced by pretreatment with calcium channel blocking agent, verapamil. Upon repeated atrial stimulations, AER did not accelerate or decelerate when the atria recovered from the preceding AER.
Acceleration ; Animals ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Atrial Remodeling* ; Calcium ; Calcium Channels ; Dogs* ; Electrodes ; Enflurane ; Heart Atria ; Myocardium ; Silicones ; Thoracotomy ; Verapamil