No abstract available.
Knee* ; Lipoma*

We reported a case of atypical thymic carcinoid tumor with ectopic ACTH syndrome which was proved by the presence of intracytoplasmic ACTH in the tumor cells using PAP method and electron microscopy. The patient was a 43-year-old housewife who was referred with Cushing's syndrome of unknown origin, and subsequantly followed by many disabling symptoms including, diabetes mellitus and electrolyte imbalance for which bilateral adrenalectomy was carried out. Thereafter, rapid rise in serum ACTH level and hyperpigmentation were followed. Pituitary irradiation was done under the impression of Nelson's syndrome despite of lacking evidence of pituitary tumor, but high serum ACTH persisted. Seven months after pituitary irradiation, two anterior mediastinal masses were first noticed and removed. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies confirmed this neoplasm as a ACTH producing spindle cell variant of atypical thymic carcinoid tumor. When dealing with a patient who developed Nelson's syndrome-like phenomenon without apparent pituitary tumor, the possibility of ectopic ACTH syndrome caused by thymic carcinoid should be considered.

No abstract available.

Granulomatous(lobular) mastitis is a distinct disease entity of unknown etiology which is characterized by noncaseating granulomatous lobulocentric inflammation. We describe a rare case of granulomatous(lobular) mastitis of a 36 year-old pregnant woman a review of the literature. The mass which was discovered in the third month of her pregnancy, began as a localized, nontender mass on the left breast and persisted during her entire pregnancy. It decreased slightly in size when she began taking post-partum bromocriptine. Clinically and mammographically, the mass was highly suspected as a carcinoma with axillary lymph node metastasis. Fine needle aspiration smears revealed numerous aggregates of granulomas composed of epithelioid histiocytes admixed with multinucleated giant cells of Langhans' and foreign body type, and collections of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Ziehl-Neelsen, silver methenamine and PAS stain were negative for acid-fast bacilli, fungus, and bacilli on the smear respectively. Histologically, granulomatous inflammation was centered on the breast lobules. Caseation necrosis was absent, instead, numerous microabscesses were formed in the center of the granulomas. Cultures of the fresh tissue for the AFB, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and fungus were all negative. Excision of the mass was performed without further treatment and there was no recurrence of the mass 6 months postoperatively. An autoimmune mechanism, infection, and some association with oral contraceptives have been suggested as etiologic factors in the literature.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Humans

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common etiology of dementia, that has not been previously reported in Korea. We have experienced two cases of Alzheimer's disease, one occurred in a 53-year-old man with dementia and the other occurred in a 36-year-old woman with a family history of early onset dementia. A neocortical biopsy was done to rule out the cause of dementia and showed diffusely scattered numerous senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in cortex of both cases. Interestingly, GFAP, an immunohistochemical stain showed strong positivity in neuritic plaques and the surrounding fibrillary gathering.
Adult ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Biopsy ; Dementia ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Neurofibrillary Tangles ; Plaque, Amyloid

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common etiology of dementia, that has not been previously reported in Korea. We have experienced two cases of Alzheimer's disease, one occurred in a 53-year-old man with dementia and the other occurred in a 36-year-old woman with a family history of early onset dementia. A neocortical biopsy was done to rule out the cause of dementia and showed diffusely scattered numerous senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in cortex of both cases. Interestingly, GFAP, an immunohistochemical stain showed strong positivity in neuritic plaques and the surrounding fibrillary gathering.
Adult ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Biopsy ; Dementia ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Neurofibrillary Tangles ; Plaque, Amyloid

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the uses of complementary and alternative therapies(CAT), pain, and quality of life(QOL) in patients with chronic back pain. METHOD: A descriptive survey was conducted using convenient sample. One hundred sixty two patients with chronic back pain participated in this study. Types and satisfaction of CAT, pattern of back pain, and QOL were investigated. RESULT: 83.3% of all participants reported in the use of CAT. The most common types of CAT used were acupuncture and half-bath. Yoga were the most high satisfaction among the types. The mean score of back pain was 4.12, QOL was 3.10, that was mostly low score. There was no significant difference back pain and QOL between CAT user and nonuser. Correlation with satisfaction of CAT according the most using types were a negative correlation with back pain and a positive correlation with QOL. CONCLUSION: These result indicate that the mostly patients with back pain feels the satisfaction of CAT use. It is important that provide the obvious information about CAT which can be helpful to patient.
Acupuncture ; Animals ; Back Pain ; Cats ; Complementary Therapies ; Humans ; Morinda ; Quality of Life ; Yoga

Desmoplastic fibroma(DF) is a rare neoplasm of the bone, and is histologically benign but locally aggressive disease. A total of nine cases of DF involving skull have been reported in the literature, and among these eight are females. In this report, the clinical findings and histopathology of a case with DF of the skull in a male patient is presented with a review of the literature with an emphasis on treatment modalities. A 21-year-old man presented with headache. CT scan revealed a solitary and lytic skull lesion without brain invasion. DF was confirmed by histological evaluation. On immunohistochemical staining of the tumor was negative for estrogen or progesterone receptors. After total resection of tumor with wide surgical margin, there was no recurrence during the 35 months of follow-up period. Although longer follow up period maybe needed, treatment of this type of tumor with complete resection of tumor tissue along with a wide margin may provide long disease-free state compare to the high recurrence rates in DF of other sites.
Brain ; Estrogens ; Female ; Fibroma, Desmoplastic* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Headache ; Humans ; Male ; Parietal Bone ; Receptors, Progesterone ; Recurrence ; Skull ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

Purpose: This study aimed to describe the desperate situation where the clinician should make decisions to further manage patients having experienced adverse drug reaction (ADR) to lamotrigine that is indicated to not easily controlled neuropsychiatric diseases. Methods: A descriptive analysis was done by thoroughly reviewing medical records of patients who were reported to have ADR to lamotrigine in a regional drug-safety center between 2010 and 2018. Results: Eighty-four cases of lamotrigine-related ADRs occurred in 80 patients. Skin lesions were most commonly observed in 70 cases (83.3%) and 14 cases (16.7%) had severe ADRs. Sixty-three subjects (78.8%) discontinued lamotrigine, while 17 (21.3%) continued it.At the time of discontinuation, 30.0% were prescribed aromatic antiepileptic drugs. Among 4 subjects who were eventually prescribed lamotrigine again after a period of discontinuation, 3 (75.0%) experienced its recurrence. Among patients who had taken alternative medications, the incidence of ADRs was higher in those being prescribed aromatic antiepileptic drugs than in the others being prescribed other than aromatic antiepileptic drugs (P = 0.013). Regarding the control of underlying diseases, as many as 65 (86.7%) and 68 (90.7%) failed to reach maintaining the resolved state from 6 months and 12 months after the substitution, respectively. Conclusion Patients can be easily trapped between the recurrence of ADRs and the treatment failure to a certain drug like lamotrigine, in which we can hardly find a reasonable alternative to manage them.

BACKGROUND: The toxicity of paraquat has been known to be caused by oxygen free radicals which leads to the lipid peroxidation and multiple organ failure. Although vitamin C has been known to be a potent antioxidant, recently there are numerous data which have shown that a low dose of vitamin C may act as a prooxidant due to the stimulation of the Fenton reaction with metal ions, which produces hydroxyl radicals. It has been reported that a deferoxamine in paraquat intoxication could reduce the production of the hydroxyl radicals by the inhibition of the Fenton reaction through the reduction of iron ion in tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the high and low dose of vitamin C and deferoxamine on lipid peroxidation and plasma TNF-alpha in paraquat intoxication. METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into seven groups: control group which was not given paraquat(20mg/kg), P group which was given paraquat only, PVH group given paraquat and high dose of vitamin C(100mg/kg), PVL group given paraquat and low dose of vitamin C(10mg/kg), PVHD given paraquat, high dose of vitamine C and deferoxamine(100mg/kg), PVLD given paraquat, low dose of vitamin C and deferoxamine, and PD given paraquat and deferoxamine. Animals were killed at 6 and 24 hours after treatment. Malondialdehyde(MDA), superoxide dismutase(SOD) and glutathione(GSH) contents, catalase activity, plasma TNF-alpha, and histologic changes in the lung and liver tissue were measured. RESULTS: The lung histology in the PVH and PD or PVHD groups showed the significant decreases in the alveolar edema and interstitial thickness compared to the P group. The liver histology in the PVH and PVHD groups demonstrated marked differences in the central venous and sinusoidal dilatation compared to that of the P group. While the MDA levels of the lung and liver in the PVH and PD groups showed the significant reduction compared to that of the P group at 6 hours after treatment, all groups showed the significant changes compared to the P group at 24 hours. There was no significant change of the SOD levels of the lung and liver at 6 hours among all groups. At 24 hours, the SOD levels of the lung in PVH, PVL, and PVHD groups showed the significant increases compared to the P group. The increase of the SOD level in groups combined with deforoxamine, however, revealed a little reduction. The SOD level of the liver in PVH group only significantly increased compared to the P group at 24 hours. There was no significant change of the GSH level of the lung and liver among all groups at 6 hours. At 24 hours, the GSH level of the lung and liver were significantly increased in both PVH and PD group and PVH group, respectively, compared to the P group. Although the catalase activity of the lung was not significantly increased, that of liver was significantly increased in both PVHD and PD groups compared to the P group at 6 hours. The catalase activities of the lung and liver were significantly increased in PVH, PD, and PVHD at 24 hours. The concentrations of the Plasma TNF-alpha were slightly decreased at 6 hours and slightly increased at 24 hours compared to that of the P group, but they were not significant. CONCLUSION: This study showed that although the low dose of vitamin C had no effect, the high dose of vitamin C revealed a decrease of the MDA level and an increase of SOD, GSH, and catalase activity in the lung and lung and liver tissues, and the effect of the high dose of vitamin C increased with time. The administration of the deferoxamine with or without high dose of vitamin C, however, significantly showed the inhibition of the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant effect and low dose vitamin C decreased the effect of deferoxamine. The effects of the vitamin C and deferoxamine on plasma TNF-alpha were not clearly shown.
Animals ; Antioxidants* ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Catalase ; Deferoxamine* ; Dilatation ; Edema ; Female ; Free Radicals ; Humans ; Ions ; Iron ; Lipid Peroxidation* ; Liver ; Lung ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Oxygen ; Paraquat* ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxides ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Vitamins*