PURPOSE: This study was to identify factors that affect breast cancer patients' intentions to participate in cancer rehabilitation therapy. Such findings could be utilized early in the rehabilitation process to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 300 breast cancer patients (> or =20 years old) receiving post-surgery outpatient care was used. A self-administrated survey was conducted from June 15 to July 25, 2012. The questionnaire included basic subject data, physical symptoms, optimism, and social support. RESULTS: A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that a short post-surgery period (<12 months), having undergone an axillary lymph node dissection, and high physical symptoms were factors that significantly affected participants' intentions to undergo rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: By accurately assessing the factors associated with each patient's decisions regarding cancer rehabilitation therapy at an early stage of treatment and then implementing such individualized rehabilitation, the quality of life for breast cancer patients can be substantially improved.
Ambulatory Care ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Intention ; Logistic Models ; Lymph Node Excision ; Quality of Life ; Rehabilitation* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Gartner duct cysts are relatively common congenital cysts in the anterolateral wall of the vagina. Most are small (less than 2 cm) and asymptomatic, but larger cysts may cause problems. We report a rare case of a giant Gartner duct cyst (7 cm) originating from the right lateral portion of the uterine cervix and adjacent myometrium. It appeared as an exophytic multiseptated cystic mass containing different density fluids on CT.
Animals ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Mice ; Myometrium ; Vagina

The three flavone glycosides, 4′-O-methylisoscutellarein 7-O-(6‴-O-acetyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), isoscutellarein 7-O-(6‴-O-acetyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), and isoscutellarein 7-O-β-D-allopyranosyl(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4) in addition to a flavonol glycoside, kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (astragalin, 2), were isolated from Stachys japonica (Lamiaceae). In cholinesterase inhibition assay, compound 1 significantly inhibited aceylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities (IC₅₀s, 39.94 µg/ml for AChE and 86.98 µg/ml for BChE). The content of isolated compounds were evaluated in this plant extract by HPLC analysis. Our experimental results suggest that the flavonoid glycosides of S. japonica could prevent the memory impairment of Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer Disease ; Butyrylcholinesterase ; Cholinesterases ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Glycosides ; Lamiaceae ; Memory ; Plants ; Stachys

Objective: This study aimed to investigate relation between empathic response of care workers and specificity of autobio-graphic memory of the elderly living alone. Methods: An interview of autobiographical memory was conducted on 66 physically and mentally healthy elderly people living alone in the community. The transcript was used to evaluate the empathic responses of the care workers and to classify thespecificity of the autobiographical memory into four categories: episodic, categoric, semantic, and error. Logistic regression was used for investigation relation between empathic response of care workers and specificity of autobiographic memory of the elder-ly living alone. Results: More than half of the elderly reported specific autobiographical memories, and the interviewers showed a high level of empathic response when the elderly reported specific memories. Episodic and categoric autobiographical memory had a high empathic response of interviewer, and semantic memory or error type memory had a low empathic response. Empathy enhance-ment program experience showed not significantly association with empathic response of interviewer. Conclusion Further research is needed on interview techniques that can easily and conveniently talk about specific autobio-graphical memories.

Recently, we experienced a case of subacute infective endocarditis caused by A. haemolyticum on mitral valve prolapse complicated with systemic emboli, which was successfully treated with antibiotics and valve replacement surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first report to address infective endocarditis caused by A. haemolyticum in a immunocompetent patient who had mitral valve prolapse and survived with successful treatment. Greater awareness of this uncommon organism is needed to make an accurate diagnosis and perform a better clinical management in the early stage of the disease. Recommendation for the treatment of septic A. haemolyticum infections has not been established. Therefore, the treatment should be based on clinical experiences and in vitro susceptibility profiles of the individual strain. The site of infection as well as antimicrobial susceptibility profiles should be considered for appropriate antibiotics choice and decision to perform a surgical intervention.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Arcanobacterium* ; Diagnosis ; Endocarditis* ; Humans ; Mitral Valve Prolapse* ; Mitral Valve*

Recently, we experienced a case of subacute infective endocarditis caused by A. haemolyticum on mitral valve prolapse complicated with systemic emboli, which was successfully treated with antibiotics and valve replacement surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first report to address infective endocarditis caused by A. haemolyticum in a immunocompetent patient who had mitral valve prolapse and survived with successful treatment. Greater awareness of this uncommon organism is needed to make an accurate diagnosis and perform a better clinical management in the early stage of the disease. Recommendation for the treatment of septic A. haemolyticum infections has not been established. Therefore, the treatment should be based on clinical experiences and in vitro susceptibility profiles of the individual strain. The site of infection as well as antimicrobial susceptibility profiles should be considered for appropriate antibiotics choice and decision to perform a surgical intervention.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Arcanobacterium* ; Diagnosis ; Endocarditis* ; Humans ; Mitral Valve Prolapse* ; Mitral Valve*

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a precancerous clinical entity, which is characterized by the development of numerous adenomatous polyps throughout the colon and rectum. The majority of FAP are associated with mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene. Until now, more than 1,000 different APC mutations have been reported and some mutations express attenuated phenotypes which are milder forms with 10~100 colorectal polyps. We identified a novel mutation of APC gene which expressed an attenuated FAP but caused large gastroduodenal tubular adenomas requiring repeated endoscopic resections. A 16-year-old girl was referred to Incheon St. Mary's Hospital for evaluation of gastric polyposis. Initial esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) showed numerous gastric polyps in the fundus and upper body and a few polyps in the duodenum. Pathologic examination confirmed gastric polyps as fundic gland polyps and duodenal polyps as tubular adenomas. Only a few colonic polyps of 2 to 5 mm in size were found on colonoscopy. Genetic analysis using polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing revealed a novel stop codon mutation at codon 1522 in exon 16 of APC gene. At 12-month, 18-month, and 35-month follow-up EGD, large duodenal polyp and gastric polyps were removed endoscopically.
Adenoma ; Adenomatous Polyposis Coli* ; Adenomatous Polyps ; Adolescent ; Codon ; Codon, Terminator ; Colon ; Colonic Polyps ; Colonoscopy ; Duodenum ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Exons ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genes, APC* ; Germ-Line Mutation* ; Humans ; Incheon ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polyps* ; Rectum

The clinical diagnostic criteria of Parkinson's disease (PD) have limitations in detecting the disease at early stage and in differentiating heterogeneous clinical progression. The lack of reliable biomarker(s) for early diagnosis and prediction of prognosis is a major hurdle to achieve optimal clinical care of patients and efficient design of clinical trials for disease-modifying therapeutics. Numerous efforts to discover PD biomarkers in CSF were conducted. In this review, we describe the molecular pathogenesis of PD and discuss its implication to develop PD biomarkers in CSF. Next, we summarize the clinical utility of CSF biomarkers including alpha-synuclein for early and differential diagnosis, and prediction of PD progression. Given the heterogeneity in the clinical features of PD and none of the CSF biomarkers for an early diagnosis have been developed, research efforts to develop biomarkers to predict heterogeneous disease progression is on-going. Notably, a rapid cognitive decline followed by the development of dementia is a risk factor of poor prognosis in PD. In connection to this, CSF levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers have received considerable attention. However, we still need long-term longitudinal observational studies employing large cohorts to evaluate the clinical utility of CSF biomarkers reflecting Lewy body pathology and AD pathology in the brain. We believe that current research efforts including the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative will resolve the current needs of early diagnosis and/or prediction of disease progression using CSF biomarkers, and which will further accelerate the development of disease-modifying therapeutics and optimize the clinical management of PD patients.
alpha-Synuclein ; Alzheimer Disease ; Biomarkers* ; Brain ; Cerebrospinal Fluid* ; Cohort Studies ; Dementia ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Disease Progression ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lewy Bodies ; Parkinson Disease* ; Pathology ; Population Characteristics ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer is one of the most frequent cause of death due to cancer in men, and its incidence among women is rapidly increasing. Although there has been a recent surge of interest in combined modality therapy for stage III non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC), the optimal treatment is still not well established. Thoracic irradiation has long been the gold standard for locally advanced unresectable NSCLC. However, although conventional radiotherapy(XRT) can palliate symptom and improve local control of disease, it huts at most only a modest effect on survival. Recently, cisplatin(cia-diamminedichloroplatinum ) has been reported to enhance the cell-killing effect of radiation For patients with unresectable NSCLC, cisplatin-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT) had the advantage of therapeutic response over XRT alone and therapeutic side effect more commonly occurred in CCRT group in EORTC(European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer) and other trials. Objectives : We compared therapeutic response, compliance, and side effects between CCRT and XRT in patients with advanced NSCLC. Patients and METHOD: Thirty patients with biopsy-proven inoperable NSCLC were randomized to one of two treatment arms. Arm A consisted of XRT, radiotherapy for 4~6 weeks(1.8 Gy given 20~33 times, in five fractions a week), and arm B consisted of CCRT, radiotherapy for 2 weeks(3 Gy given 10 times, in five fractions a week), followed by 3 week rest period and then radiotherapy 2 more weeks(2.5 Gy given 10 timed in five fractions a week), combined with 6mg cisplatin per square meter, given daily before radiotherapy. We evaluate therapeutic response, compliance, change of performance status, side effects, and radiation pneumonitis by using the author's made scoring system. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in therapeutic response and compliance. But there was a significantly lower laboratory complication and radiation pneumonitis in CCRT group (p<0.05). There's significant negative correlation between stage and therapeutic response score in both groups(R=0.353, p<0.05). In both groups, patients with squamous cell carcinoma had a tendency to higher therapeutic response score than those with adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION: There was. no difference between CCRT and XRT in respect to therapeutic response and compliance. But CCRT had a advantage of decreased side effects.
Adenocarcinoma ; Arm ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cause of Death ; Chemoradiotherapy* ; Cisplatin ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Compliance ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Male ; Radiation Pneumonitis ; Radiotherapy*

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the mental health status of the children of psychiatric patients in order to plan for the resources that may be necessary to help these children achieve their full potential. METHODS: Forty-eight children (age 9–18) whose parents were registered in 5 community mental health centers located in Seoul were recruited. Tests assessing 3 psychological domains were conducted: 1) cognition: Korean version of Learning Disability Evaluation Scale, Comprehensive Attention Test, 2) parent reported emotion and behavior: Korean Child Behavior Checklist, Korean attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Rating Scale, and 3) self-reported emotion and behavior: Korean Beck's Depression Inventory-II/Children's Depression Inventory-II, Korean Youth Self Report). We defined the children as having a high risk of developing mental health problems if their test scores were over the cut-off levels in 2 or more of the 3 domains assessed. RESULTS: Twelve (25%) children were classified as having a high risk of developing mental health issues. 20 (41.6%) children scored above the cut-off in only one of the domains. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the children of psychiatric patients might be vulnerable to mental illness and need early prevention or interven-tions for the sake of their mental health.
Adolescent ; Checklist ; Child Behavior ; Child* ; Cognition ; Community Mental Health Centers ; Depression ; Humans ; Learning Disorders ; Mass Screening* ; Mental Health* ; Parents* ; Seoul