Sometimes a pilomatrixoma on upper neck can be misdiagnosed as primary salivary gland tumor, skin adnexal tumor or metastatic carcinoma. On fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC), characteristic features are ghost cells, basaloid cells, and calcium deposits, among which presence of ghost cells seems to be the key to recognize it. Here we present a cytologically misdiagnosed case of pilomatrixoma. A 32-year-old man presented a subcutaneous mass on the right posterior neck. It has grown slowly for 1 year, and was nontender, well circumscribed, hard, and movable mass. An initial FNAC yielded only monomorphic population of highly mitotic basaloid cells, without anucleated ghost cells, chronic inflammatory cells or foreign-body giant cells, suggestive of a poorly differentiated carcinoma. However, that was inconsistent with patient's clinical findings. For further correct diagnosis, FNAC was repeated, which yielded the basaloid cells and foreign-body giant cells. The diagnosis of pilomatrixoma could be made and the mass was excised. This case demonstrates that the pilomatrixoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of subcutaneous aspirates containing not ghost cells but a dominant population of basaloid cells.
Child ; Male ; Female ; Humans ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Neoplasm Metastasis

No abstract available.
Animals ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide* ; Calcitonin* ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger*

No abstract available.
Sinusitis*

This study was aimed at investigation of the stimulatory innervations on the rat urinary bladder. Detrusor muscle strips of 15 mm long were suspended in isolated muscle chambers containing 1 ml of PSS maintained at 37℃ and aerated with 95% O²/5% Co². Isometric myography was performed, and the results were as followings: Muscle strips showed “on-contraction” by electric field stimulation (EFS) frequency-dependently. The EFS-induced contraction was not affected by hexamethonium, a ganglion blocker, but abolished by tetrodotoxin, a nerve conduction blocker. Physostigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor enhanced the EFS-induced contraction which was inhibited by hemicholinium, an inhibitor of choline uptake at the cholinergic nerve ending. Such an EFS-induced contraction was antagonized by atropine only partially, and the atropine-resistant portion was completely abolished by the desensitization of purinergic receptors by prolonged incubating of the strips in the presence of high concentration of ATP. Bethanechol, a cholinergic agonist, elicited concentration-dependent contraction. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a purinergic agonist, induced a weak but concentration-dependent contraction of short duration. Bethanechol-induced contraction was not affected by ATP-desensitization, and ATP-induced contraction was not affected by tetrodotoxin. These results suggest that there are at least two main stimulatory components of innervations in the detrusor muscle, cholinergic muscarinic and purinergic; and those receptors are independent each other.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Animals ; Atropine ; Bethanechol ; Choline ; Cholinergic Agonists ; Cholinesterases ; Ganglion Cysts ; Hemicholinium 3 ; Hexamethonium ; Myography ; Nerve Endings ; Neural Conduction ; Physostigmine ; Rats* ; Receptors, Purinergic ; Tetrodotoxin ; Urinary Bladder*

Rehmannia glutinosa is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the family Scrophulariaceae with more than 300 species known in the world, especially in temperate regions. Its roots have been used widely in Korea for medicinal purposes. However, it is commonly infected by various pathogens during storage, causing great damage to the roots, and impedes the intensive farming of the crop. Therefore, an attempt has been made to isolate and screen a resistance gene against the pathogen Fusarium oxysporum using differential display. We treated salicylic acid (SA), and isolated a resistance gene that responds to SA. As a result, we found that SA was involved in plant defense mechanism in pathogenicity tests with SA treated and non-treted plants, and we isolated a partial PR-la gene through differential display polymerase chain reaction (DD-PCR) method.
Fusarium ; Humans ; Korea ; Plants ; Plants, Medicinal ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rehmannia* ; Salicylic Acid* ; Scrophulariaceae ; Virulence

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the rate of lymph node (LN) micrometastasis in patients with stage I and II rectal cancer.METHODS: One hundred eighty patients with either stage I or II rectal carcinoma who underwent curative resection between 1995 and 2010 were included. Forty-eight patients received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Two sections from each LN were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and with CK20 by immunohistochemistry (IHC), respectively.RESULTS: A total of 2,257 LNs with a median of 12.5 LNs per patient were examined. For IHC staining, CK20-positive neoplastic cells were found in 4 of the 2,257 LNs (0.2%) from 3 of the 180 patients (1.7%), and all corresponding H&E re-stained sections confirmed that these neoplastic cells were present. Three of four neoplastic cells were micrometastasis, and one was macrometastasis. All occult neoplastic cells were found in 3 of the 85 patients (3.5%) with stage II disease.CONCLUSION: We observed a 3.5% rate of occult neoplastic cells in stage II rectal cancer. Interestingly, the results of IHC staining corresponded with those of H&E re-stained sections, suggesting that the examination of H&E stained section by a competent pathologist may replace IHC staining.
Chemoradiotherapy ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis ; Rectal Neoplasms

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of communication competence and burnout on nursing performance in intensive care units (ICU). METHOD: The participants were 209 nurses from four university hospitals. Measurements included a socio-demographic and job related survey, communication competence inventory, the Maslach burnout inventory and a nursing performance scale. Data were collected from February 6 to 24, 2012, with a self-report questionnaire. The statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 18.0 software. RESULTS: The mean scores for communication competence, burnout and nursing performance were 50.49, 84.72, and 62.18, respectively. Communication competence (r=.44, p<.001) and burn out (r=-.32, p<.001) were significantly correlated with nursing performance. In the multiple linear regression, factors influencing nursing performance were communication competence, age and burnout. These variables explained about 46% of the total variance of nursing performance. Communication competence (beta=.34, p%.001) was the most influential factor. CONCLUSION: Nurses' poor communication skills and burnout can influence the occurrences of medical errors in ICU nursing performance. The results suggest that good communication and burnout resolution skills programs should be implemented to improve nursing performance efficiency.
Burns ; Hospitals, University ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Linear Models ; Medical Errors ; Mental Competency ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Anticonvulsants have a number of side effects and some of them may be attributed to a disturbance of serum trace metal homeostasis. Although they are minor building components in tissues, they play important functional roles in the peripheral and central nervous system. We measured serum copper and zinc levels in epileptic children who were treated with anticonvulsants to know the effects of anticonvulsants on serum copper and zinc levels. METHODS: Serum copper and zinc levels were determined in 64 epileptic patients receiving anticonvulsant therapy in Chungnam National University Hospital, and in 20 normal controls. Sixty-four epileptic patients were divided into three groups:16 patients who were treated with valproic acid monotherapy; 26 patients who were treated with valproic acid in addition to other anticonvulsants; and 22 patients who were treated with anticonvulsants except for valporic acid. RESULTS: All patients receiving anticonvulsants had significantly lower serum copper levels(80.21+/-19.42 microgram/dL) in comparison to the normal controls(102.12+/-32.8 microgram/dL). Serum zinc levels in patients receiving anticonvulsants(79.78+/-21.88 microgram/dL) were not statistically different from those of controls (85.26+/-29.81 microgram/dL). There were no significant difference of serum copper and zinc levels among the three groups. CONCLUSION: In this study, we clearly showed that anticonvulsants decreased serum copper levels. Although we did not observe any clinical findings related to copper deficiency, we should pay attention to potent copper deficiency in patients with anticonvulsant treatment.
Anticonvulsants* ; Central Nervous System ; Child ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Copper* ; Epilepsy ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Valproic Acid ; Zinc*

PURPOSE: The objective of this work is to determine whether the degree of expression of Human Erythrocyte Glucose Transporter (Glut-1) protein might correlate with survival rate, tumor stage and pathologic findings in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 94 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy at our department for RCC were included in this retrospective study. Biologic significance of Glut-1 immunohistochemical staining according to the survival rate, tumor stage and pathologic findings in patients with RCC was evaluated. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using a primary antibody which was polyclonal rabbit anti-human Glut-1. RESULTS: In 67 of 94 patients, Glut-1 staining was demonstrated in the plasma membrane of cancer cells. Positive staining of Glut-1 in clear cell type was significantly higher than chromophobe type and chromophill type (p=0.01, 0.04). Positive staining for Glut-1 did not show any significant difference between localized and metastatic RCC. Positive staining for Glut-1 did not show any significant difference with tumor stage (p=0.09) or nuclear grade (p=0.20) or survival rate in localized RCC. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, Glut-1 protein express not in the normal portion of kidney but in the RCC. Expression of Glut-1 protein does not correlate with tumor stage, nuclear grade, or survival rate. These findings suggest that RCC may have another type of glucose transporter.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Cell Membrane ; Erythrocytes* ; Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative ; Glucose Transporter Type 1* ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kidney ; Nephrectomy ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

The Dextrostix/Reflectance Meter (GLUCOSCOT GT-4310) for measuring blood glucose con centration was studied. We compared 75 blood glucose values measured by GLUCOSCOT with serum glucose values by laboratory glucose oxidase method. And their correlations were excellent (r=0.96961). This study proved that this portable monitor is valuable in providing anesthesiologists with a rapid and precise method for monitoring blood glucose concentrations in operating room. Perioperative blood glucose concentrations were measured by GLUCOSCOT in gynecologic patients anesthetized with Thalamonal (group 1), halothane (group 2) or enflurane (group 3). Blood glucose values increased significantly after intubation and more increased after start of surgery with time, but these changes were not significant clinically (<120 mg/dl). Changes of blood glucose, mean blood pressure and pulse rate were not different statistically from each other groups.
Blood Glucose* ; Blood Pressure ; Enflurane ; Glucose Oxidase ; Halothane ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Intubation ; Operating Rooms*