A mediastinal mass was aspirated by fluoroscope-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy in a 47 years old female patient. The first aspiration smears were not diagnostic, because of hemorrhagic background and cell paucity. On the second aspiration, the smears were composed of some clusters of benign epithelial cells in hemorrhagic background. Cells were arranged in mostly solid sheets and tended to form glandular lumina in part. Their nuclei were round and vesicular. Nucleoli were not prominent. These findings were suggestive of benign glandular tissue, which was finally confirmed as mediastinal thyroid gland by open thoracotomy specimen.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Necrosis* ; Nephritis* ; Risk Factors* ; Thoracotomy ; Thyroid Gland

Acardiac twinning affects 1 in 100 monozygotic twin pregnancies and 1 in 35,000 pregnancies overall. This condition is characterized by the absence or rudimentary development of fetal heart, and associated with various anomaly. The presence of an acardiac twin requires the normal (or "pump") twin to provide circulation for itself, as well as the acardiac sibling. The acardiac malformations are uniformly fatal in the affected twin, and mortality in the co-twin is as high as 55%. The principal perinatal problems associated with acardiac twinning are pump-twin congestive heart failure, maternal hydramnios, and preterm delivery. We recently experienced a case of acardius anceps associated with a normal male infant, so present with a brief review of the literature.
Fetal Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mortality ; Polyhydramnios ; Pregnancy ; Siblings ; Twins, Monozygotic

The hamate fracture is very rare condition. The mechanism of fracture may be attributed to direct trauma by rolling down. We have experienced a case of fracture of the body of the hamate bone. It was treated by conservative method. The result was satisfactory with conservative treatment without traumatic arthritis, nonunion, ulnar nerve palsy, flexor digitorum profundus tendinitis & limitation of motion. A case of fracture of the body of the hamate bone is reported with brief review of literature.
Arthritis ; Hamate Bone ; Methods ; Tendinopathy ; Ulnar Neuropathies

A hospitalist system in Korea began in August 2016. Patient safety issues, resident law, and reduction of resident numbers in Korea are leading to an increase in the demand for hospitalist in Korea. The roles and responsibilities of GI hospitalists have not been established. Therefore, cooperation among the Korean society of gastroenterology, each hospital, and government is necessary. In particular, it is important to prepare an education program for gastroenterology hospitalists.
Education ; Gastroenterology ; Hospitalists ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Patient Safety

A hospitalist system in Korea began in August 2016. Patient safety issues, resident law, and reduction of resident numbers in Korea are leading to an increase in the demand for hospitalist in Korea. The roles and responsibilities of GI hospitalists have not been established. Therefore, cooperation among the Korean society of gastroenterology, each hospital, and government is necessary. In particular, it is important to prepare an education program for gastroenterology hospitalists.
Education ; Gastroenterology ; Hospitalists ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Patient Safety

No abstract available.
Duodenal Ulcer* ; Pepsinogen A*

OBJECTIVE: Platinum (Pt) based drugs including cisplatin and carboplatin are widely used as anticancer drugs in various human cancers. Many studies have shown that chemotherapeutic agents synergistically enhance cell death induced by death ligands. However it has been recently reported that cisplatin may inhibit tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced cell death through inactivation of caspases. Thus, we investigated whether carboplatin also inhibits TRAIL-induced cell death. METHODS: HeLa cells were treated with TRAIL in the presence of cisplatin or carboplatin, and cell death was analyzed using the crystal violet staining method. Caspase activation was checked through detection of Bid cleavage by Western blotting using anti-Bid antibody. RESULTS: Cisplatin inhibits TRAIL-induced cell death in HeLa cells; however, carboplatin enhanced TRAIL-induced cell death. Whereas cisplatin inhibited caspase-8-mediated Bid cleavage, carboplatin had no effect on caspase-8 activity. CONCLUSION: Although cisplatin and carboplatin are platinum-containing cancer therapeutic agents, they have the opposite effects on TRAIL-induced cell death.
Blotting, Western ; Carboplatin ; Caspase 8 ; Caspases ; Cell Death ; Cisplatin ; Gentian Violet ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Ligands ; Necrosis ; Platinum

Purpose: Circulating cell-free single-stranded DNA (ccf-ssDNA) is extracellular DNA and it is a useful biomarker for the diagnosis of tumors and predicting the prognosis of tumors. However, the clinical usefulness of ccf-ssDNA in colorectal cancer (CRC) is not well known. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of ccf-ssDNA in CRC. Methods: The study was conducted on 44 patients who had undergone surgery for CRC, and ccf-ssDNA level was measured before surgery and statistical analysis was performed on clinical factors. Results: The association between ccf-ssDNA level and clinicopathological factors was analyzed and compared, and these factors included age, sex, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, tumor markers (carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9), tumor location, size, stage (TNM), recurrence, and death. The group with a ccf-ssDNA level of ≥ 7.5 ng/μL had a lower age (P = 0.010), and was associated with diabetes mellitus (P = 0.037) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.049). Multivariate analysis of disease-free survival showed that lymph node metastasis and ccf-ssDNA level (hazard ratio, 10.011; 95% confidence interval, 2.269–44.175; P = 0.002) were independent prognostic factors for recurrence. In terms of overall survival, there were no statistically significant results except for vascular invasion. Conclusion This study showed that ccf-ssDNA level in plasma in CRC patients was an independent prognostic factor that could predict recurrence non-invasively. In this regard, further evaluation with a prospective, large sample size study will be needed to obtain additional results.

Linear array echoendoscopes were developed in the early 1990s and they have facilitated performing EUS-guided interventional procedures. The introduction of linear array echoendoscopes allows performing fine needle aspiration because the device enables tracing the path of the tip of the needle during puncture procedure. In addition to being very useful for diagnostic purpose, this device enabled us to develop various therapeutic endoscopic procedures. Therapeutic drainage procedures, including EUS-guided bile duct drainage, pancreatic pseudocyst drainage and pancreatic duct drainage, have all been more frequently performed in the last decade. In addition to the acquisition of tissue or fluid, various substances can be delivered into the target areas with EUS, with an example being an EUS-guided celiac plexus neurolysis/block. In this review, we describe the present place and role of interventional EUS in clinical practice.
Bile Ducts ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Celiac Plexus ; Drainage ; Hypogonadism ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Needles ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst ; Punctures