Aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) -344C/T polymorphism has been reported to be associated with serum aldosterone level, urinary aldosterone excretion, blood pressure, and left ventricular size and mass. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between CYP11B2 polymorphism and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the Korean population and the association with CYP11B2 polymorphism and cardiovascular morbidity in ESRD patients on hemodialysis. Genotyping was performed in 134 control subjects and 271 ESRD patients for CYP11B2 polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction through subsequent cleavage with restriction enzyme. Also current blood pressure, demographic, anthropometric and biochemical variables were investigated. The genotype distribution did not differ between ESRD patients and controls and there were no significant differences in blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medication, left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiovascular disease among the three genotypes in ESRD patients on hemodialysis. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that CYP11B2 polymorphism may be associated with prevalence of ESRD and suggest that CYP11B2 polymorphism may not be a genetic marker for cardiovascular morbidity in Korean ESRD patients.
Aldosterone ; Aldosterone Synthase ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Genetic Markers ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Prevalence ; Renal Dialysis

Tuberculosis remains as a major public health problem worldwide. In addition to classic pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculosis may sometimes present atypically. In the case of atypical tuberculosis, the unusual sites and properties that mimic other diseases can lead to a misdiagnosis and therapeutic delay. Abdominal and pharyngeal tuberculosis are uncommon extrapulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis. To the best of our knowledge, a combination of abdominal and pharyngeal tuberculosis with endobronchial tuberculosis has not been reported. We report a case of concurrent abdominal and pharyngeal tuberculosis in a patient with chronic endobronchial tuberculosis mimicking a metastatic malignancy on computed tomography and FDG-PET.
Diagnostic Errors ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Public Health ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Tuberculosis remains as a major public health problem worldwide. In addition to classic pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculosis may sometimes present atypically. In the case of atypical tuberculosis, the unusual sites and properties that mimic other diseases can lead to a misdiagnosis and therapeutic delay. Abdominal and pharyngeal tuberculosis are uncommon extrapulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis. To the best of our knowledge, a combination of abdominal and pharyngeal tuberculosis with endobronchial tuberculosis has not been reported. We report a case of concurrent abdominal and pharyngeal tuberculosis in a patient with chronic endobronchial tuberculosis mimicking a metastatic malignancy on computed tomography and FDG-PET.
Diagnostic Errors ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Public Health ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

A 29-year-old male patient was admitted due to his general weakness and poor oral intake for several months. He was diagnosed as having Crohn disease 16 years ago and total colectomy was performed 10 years ago. On the 3rd day after admission, gross hematuria and sudden hemoptysis combined with diffuse infiltration were noted on chest X-ray. His symptoms and the diffusely increased lung opacities improved with administering high-dose steroid therapy. Later, anti-GBM antibody was found to be positive on the laboratory findings. We report here on a rare case of Goodpsture syndrome combined with prolonged Crohn disease along with a review of literature.
Adult ; Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease* ; Colectomy ; Crohn Disease* ; Hematuria ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Thorax

The first edition of the ‘Standardized Pathology Report for Colorectal Cancer,’ which was developed by the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group (GIP) of the Korean Society of Pathologists, was published 13 years ago. Meanwhile, there have been many changes in the pathologic diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), pathologic findings included in the pathology report, and immunohistochemical and molecular pathology required for the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. In order to reflect these changes, we (GIP) decided to make the second edition of the report. The purpose of this standardized pathology report is to provide a practical protocol for Korean pathologists, which could help diagnose and treat CRC patients. This report consists of “standard data elements” and “conditional data elements.” Basic pathologic findings and parts necessary for prognostication of CRC patients are classified as “standard data elements,” while other prognostic factors and factors related to adjuvant therapy are classified as “conditional data elements” so that each institution could select the contents according to the characteristics of the institution. The Korean version is also provided separately so that Korean pathologists can easily understand and use this report. We hope that this report will be helpful in the daily practice of CRC diagnosis.

Despite remarkable progress in understanding and treating gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) during the past two decades, the pathological characteristics of GISTs have not been made clear yet. Furthermore, concrete diagnostic criteria of malignant GISTs are still uncertain. We collected pathology reports of 1,227 GISTs from 38 hospitals in Korea between 2003 and 2004 and evaluated the efficacy of the NIH and AFIP classification schemes as well as the prognostic factors among pathologic findings. The incidence of GISTs in Korea is about 1.6 to 2.2 patients per 100,000. Extra-gastrointestinal GISTs (10.1%) are more common in Korea than in Western countries. In univariate analysis, gender, age, tumor location, size, mitosis, tumor necrosis, vascular and mucosal invasions, histologic type, CD34 and s-100 protein expression, and classifications by the NIH and AFIP criteria were found to be significantly correlated with patient's survival. However, the primary tumor location, stage and classification of the AFIP criteria were prognostically significant in predicting patient's survival in multivariate analysis. The GIST classification based on original tumor location, size, and mitosis is more efficient than the NIH criteria in predicting patient's survival, but the mechanism still needs to be clarified through future studies.

PURPOSE: As a result of various independently proposed nomenclatures and classifications, there is confusion in the diagnosis and prediction of biological behavior of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). A comprehensive nationwide study is needed in order to understand the biological characteristics of GEP-NETs in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected 4,951 pathology reports from 29 hospitals in Korea between 2000 and 2009. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to determine the prognostic significance of clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Although the GEP-NET is a relatively rare tumor in Korea, its incidence has increased during the last decade, with the most significant increase found in the rectum. The 10-year survival rate for well-differentiated endocrine tumor was 92.89%, in contrast to 85.74% in well differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma and 34.59% in poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma. Disease related death was most common in the biliary tract (62.2%) and very rare in the rectum (5.2%). In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, tumor location, histological classification, extent, size, mitosis, Ki-67 labeling index, synaptophysin expression, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymph node metastasis showed prognostic significance (p<0.05), however, chromogranin expression did not (p=0.148). The 2000 and 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) classification proposals were useful for prediction of the prognosis of GEP-NET. CONCLUSION: The incidence of GEP-NET in Korea has shown a remarkable increase during the last decade, however, the distribution of tumors in the digestive system differs from that of western reports. Assessment of pathological parameters, including immunostaining, is crucial in understanding biological behavior of the tumor as well as predicting prognosis of patients with GEP-NET.
Biliary Tract ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; Digestive System ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intestinal Neoplasms ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Mitosis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Population Characteristics ; Prognosis ; Rectum ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Survival Rate ; Synaptophysin ; World Health Organization