This report presents the case of a 49-year-old man who presented with giant masses that had recently grown on the bilateral sides of the tongue. A clinical examination revealed rubbery yellowish lesions protruding from the tongue.A panoramic radiograph showed an enlarged soft tissue shadow of the tongue. Computed tomography showed well-defined circumscribed mass exhibiting a homogeneous low density on the bilateral sides of the tongue. On magnetic resonance images, the masses showed a high signal intensity on T1-weighted images and iso-signal intensity with partially hyperintense margin on fat-suppressed T2-weighted images. Surgical excision was performed, and a histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of lipoma. The patient recovered well with no sign ofrecurrence. A giant lipoma is defined as a lipoma larger than 5 cm in diameter. A literature review of giant lipomas of the tongue is also presented herein.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between retirement preparation and depressive symptoms among Koreans 50 years of age or older. We used data from the 2009 to 2013 Korean Retirement and Income Panel Study (KReIS), which included data from the 365 baseline participants of 50 years of age or older. Our sample included only newly retired participants who worked in 2009, but had retired in the 2011 and 2013. To monitor the change in depressive symptoms according to retirement preparation, we used repeated measurement data. We measured depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) 20-item scale. In addition, we measured retirement preparation using a single self-report question asking whether the participant was financially ready for retirement. We evaluated relationship between retirement preparation and depressive symptoms after multivariable adjustment. Compared to subjects who had prepared for retirement (reference group), participants who had not prepared for retirement had increased depression scores (β = 2.49, P < 0.001). In addition, individuals who had not prepared for retirement and who had low household income had the highest increase in depression scores (β = 4.43, P < 0.001). Individuals, who had not prepared for retirement and without a national pension showed a considerable increase in depression scores (β = 3.02, P < 0.001). It is suggested that guaranteed retirement preparation is especially important for mental health of retired elderly individuals with low economic strata.
Aged* ; Depression* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Pensions ; Retirement*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although there is growing interest in hospice-palliative care, little information is available on the effects of such care in South Korea. Addressing this research gap, i.e., determining the cost-effectiveness of hospice-palliative care in South Korea, will help guide policy. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness analysis of hospice-palliative care in adults diagnosed with terminal cancer. METHODS: We used a Markov model to construct a decision tree, for an analysis comparing the general ward with the hospice-palliative ward in terms of patient quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Cost and quality of life were estimated based on published Korean studies. Cost-effectiveness was calculated as the incremental cost relative to the incremental effect. Additionally, a one-way sensitivity analysis was performed to test the robustness of the results. RESULTS: Hospice-palliative ward care was more cost-effective than general ward care. The incremental cost was 290,401 Korean won (KRW) and the incremental effect was −0.25. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was −1,174,045 KRW. A similar pattern of results was obtained in the sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that hospice-palliative ward care is more cost-effective than general ward care.
Adult ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Decision Trees ; Hospice Care ; Humans ; Korea ; Patients' Rooms ; Quality of Life

A 16-year-old male presented with pain in the right posterior mandible on chewing that had lasted for several months. The radiographic features of the lesion included a radiolucent-radiopaque mixed-density mass with a radiolucent rim attached to the root of the mandibular right first molar. The preliminary radiographic diagnosis was benign cementoblastoma, which was confirmed by histopathological examination following surgical excision. The lesion recurred 3 years after treatment; radiographically, it consisted of 3 round foci with mixed radiopacity, each with a radiolucent rim near the root of the mandibular right second premolar and the edentulous postoperative region. The lesion was diagnosed as recurrent benign cementoblastoma and a second surgery was scheduled. This report presented an unusual case of recurrent benign cementoblastoma following surgical excision and extraction of the involved tooth, along with a literature review on reported cases of recurrent benign cementoblastoma with a focus on its clinical features and the best treatment options.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although there is growing interest in hospice-palliative care, little information is available on the effects of such care in South Korea. Addressing this research gap, i.e., determining the cost-effectiveness of hospice-palliative care in South Korea, will help guide policy. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness analysis of hospice-palliative care in adults diagnosed with terminal cancer. METHODS: We used a Markov model to construct a decision tree, for an analysis comparing the general ward with the hospice-palliative ward in terms of patient quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Cost and quality of life were estimated based on published Korean studies. Cost-effectiveness was calculated as the incremental cost relative to the incremental effect. Additionally, a one-way sensitivity analysis was performed to test the robustness of the results. RESULTS: Hospice-palliative ward care was more cost-effective than general ward care. The incremental cost was 290,401 Korean won (KRW) and the incremental effect was −0.25. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was −1,174,045 KRW. A similar pattern of results was obtained in the sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that hospice-palliative ward care is more cost-effective than general ward care.

Acute isolated vestibulopathy could be caused by either viral inflammation or ischemia. However, diagnosing ischemic vestibulopathy is difficult due to the ambiguity of the causal relationship between ischemia and peripheral vestibulopathy. We present here a patient with acute ischemic vestibulopathy without hearing loss caused by internal auditory artery occlusion, indirectly proven by the finding of a simultaneously developed silent cerebellar infarction. The details of this case suggest that patients with acute isolated peripheral vestibulopathy should be carefully evaluated for underlying causes, including vascular risk factors.
Arteries ; Hearing Loss* ; Humans ; Infarction ; Inflammation ; Ischemia ; Risk Factors ; Stroke

The vibrational spectral differences of normal and lung cancer cells were studied for the development of effective cancer cell screening by means of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy. The phosphate monoester symmetric stretching nus(PO3(2-)) band intensity at ~970 cm-1 and the phosphodiester symmetric stretching nus(PO2-) band intensity at ~1,085 cm-1 in nucleic acids and phospholipids appeared to be significantly strengthened in lung cancer cells with respect to the other vibrational bands compared to normal cells. This finding suggests that more extensive phosphorylation occur in cancer cells. These results demonstrate that lung cancer cells may be prescreened using infrared spectroscopy tools.
*Carcinoma ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Epithelial Cells/*physiology ; Humans ; *Lung Neoplasms ; Respiratory Mucosa/*cytology ; *Spectrophotometry, Infrared

Hyponatremia and hyperkalemia in infancy can be attributed to various causes, originating from a variety of renal and genetic disorders. Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA1) is one of these disorders, causing mineralocorticoid resistance that results in urinary salt wasting, failure to thrive, metabolic acidosis, and dehydration. PHA1 is heterogeneous in etiology. Inactivating mutations in the NR3C2 gene (4q31.1), which encodes the mineralocorticoid receptor, causes a less severe autosomal dominant form that is restricted to the kidney, while mutations in the amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel gene (alpha subunit=SCNN1A, 12p13; beta subunit=SCNN1b, 16p12.2-p12.1; gamma subunit=SCNN1G, 16p12) causes a more severe autosomal recessive form, which has systemic effects. Here we report a neonatal case of kidney restricted PHA1 (renal type of PHA1) who first showed laboratory abnormalities before obvious PHA1 manifestations, with two functional polymorphisms in the NR3C2 gene. This is the second genetically confirmed case in Korea and the first to show functional polymorphisms that have previously been reported in the literature.
Acidosis ; Dehydration ; Epithelial Sodium Channels ; Failure to Thrive ; Humans ; Hyperkalemia ; Hyponatremia ; Infant, Newborn* ; Kidney ; Korea ; Male* ; Pseudohypoaldosteronism* ; Receptors, Mineralocorticoid*

There is considerable heterogeneity in the peripheral blood smear reports across different diagnostic laboratories, despite following the guidelines published by the International Council for Standardization in Haematology (ICSH). As standardization of reports can facilitate communication and consequently the diagnostic efficiency in both laboratories and clinics, the standardization committee of the Korean Society for Laboratory Hematology aimed to establish a detailed guideline for the standardization of peripheral blood smear reports. Based on the ICSH guidelines, additional issues on describing and grading the peripheral blood smear findings were discussed. In this report, the proposed guideline is briefly described.
Blood Cells ; Hematology ; Population Characteristics

Purpose: The safety of online contouring and planning for adaptive radiotherapy is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the dosimetric difference of the organ-at-risk (OAR) according to the extent of contouring in stereotactic magnetic resonance image-guided adaptive RT (SMART) for pancreatic cancer. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the treatment plan data used for SMART in patients with pancreatic cancer. For the online contouring and planning, OARs within 2 cm from the planning target volume (PTV) in the craniocaudal direction were re-controlled daily at the attending physician's discretion. The entire OARs were re-contoured retrospectively for data analysis. We termed the two contouring methods the Rough OAR and the Full OAR, respectively. The proportion of dose constraint violation and other dosimetric parameters was analyzed. Results: Nineteen patients with 94 fractions of SMART were included in the analysis. The dose constraint was violated in 10.6% and 43.6% of the fractions in Rough OAR and Full OAR methods, respectively (p = 0.075). Patients with a large tumor, a short distance from gross tumor volume (GTV) to OAR, and a tumor in the body or tail were associated with more occult dose constraint violations—large tumor (p = 0.027), short distance from GTV to OAR (p = 0.061), tumor in body or tail (p = 0.054). No dose constraint violation occurred outside 2 cm from the PTV. Conclusion More occult dose constraint violations can be found by the Full OAR method in patients with pancreatic cancer with some clinical factors in the online re-planning for SMART. Re-contouring all the OARs would be helpful to detect occult dose constraint violations in SMART planning. Since the dosimetric profile of SMART cannot be represented by a single fraction, patient selection for the Full OAR method should be weighted between the clinical usefulness and the time and workforce required.