OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and pathological characteristics of granulosa cell tumor of the ovary. METHODS: Between 1990 and 2000, 27 patients with granulosa cell tumor of the ovary treated in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea were identified and reviewed retrospectively for patient profiles, International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) disease stage, mode of therapy, and length of survival. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 43.9 years (range 9-75 years). Tumors were 70.3% (19/27) stage I, 7.5% (2/27) stage II, 11.1% (3/27) stage III, and 11.1% (3/27) stage IV. There was a 15% association between granulosa cell tumor and endometrial hyperplasia. All patients underwent cytoreductive surgery, and 14 patients followed by postoperative chemotherapy. One patient received adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy and 3 patients were treated with adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The survival rate in stage I was 100.0% after 5 years, and in stage II-IV was 62.5% after 5 years. Overall survival was 88.8% at 5 years. Mitotic index influenced the survival rate; with less 10/10 HPF the survival was 100% in 5 years, and with more or equal 10/10 HPF the longest survival was 44 months. CONCLUSION: Although most granulosa cell tumors of the ovary are slow growing, wide variation is possible, with high mitosis counts leading to a worse prognosis. However, it is difficult to predict early or late recurrences using pathologic parameters. It is therefore important that patients with theses tumors are followed up indefinitely.
Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Endometrial Hyperplasia ; Female ; Granulosa Cell Tumor* ; Granulosa Cells* ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Korea ; Mitosis ; Mitotic Index ; Obstetrics ; Ovary* ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Infection of cattle with bovine leukemia virus (BLV) has been observed and reported worldwide, including in Korea. The onsite identification of infected cattle would help decreasing and eradicating BLV infections on farms. Here, we present a new immunochromatographic assay that employs monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for the detection of antibodies against BLV in the field. BLV envelope glycoprotein (gp)51 was expressed in E. coli, and MAbs against recombinant BLV gp51 were generated for the development of an immunochromatographic assay to detect BLV antibodies in cattle. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay were determined by comparing these results with those obtained from a standard enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 160 bovine sera were used to evaluate the new immunochromatographic assay. Using ELISA as a reference standard, the relative specificity and sensitivity of this assay were determined to be 94.7% and 98%, respectively. Because of its high sensitivity and specificity, this BLV antibody detection assay would be suitable for the onsite identification of BLV infection in the field.
Agriculture ; Animals ; Antibodies* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Cattle ; Deltaretrovirus Antibodies ; Deltaretrovirus Infections ; Enzootic Bovine Leukosis* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Glycoproteins ; Immunochromatography* ; Korea ; Leukemia Virus, Bovine* ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on alleviating pain caused by the injection of recombinant gonadotropin for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) among infertile women. METHODS: This study employed a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. A total sample of 149 infertile women who never experienced in vitro fertilization was recruited at C fertility center. Seventy women were assigned into experimental group and 79 into controls. The experimental group had been informed to do abdominal massage prior to the injection and to record their subjective pain using visual analogue scale. The control group had been informed to record their subjective pain in the same way just after the injection. RESULTS: Compared to the pre-tested pain scores, the pain scores in experimental group were significantly reduced by 0.7 points, whereas the control group increased by 0.9 points (t=-4.55, p=.001). CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the use of abdominal massage prior to the injection is an effective way to alleviate pain on injection site. This massage may be a useful intervention for infertile women about pain alleviation.
Female ; Fertility ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Gonadotropins ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques* ; Massage*

These are natural inhibitors of coagulation, and deficiencies of any of these factors is referred to as thrombophilia. The identified main causes of thrombophilia are deficiencies of antithrombin III, protein C, or protein S, resistance to actived protein C associated with Factor V Leiden mutation, and inherited hyperhomocystinemia. Inherited and acquired thrombophilias may also contribute to pathophysiological processes involved in recurrent pregnancy loss, fetal death, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption, placental infarction, and pre-eclampsia. Various therapeutic protocols with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) were used. because it is associated with a low incidence of osteoporosis and thrombocytopenia. We experienced the two cases of successful deliveries by Cesarean section following a successful pregnancy maintenance in thrombophilia. we administered LMWH to prevent thromboembolism. one patient was the primi-gravidarum, with inherited thrombophilia, who has the familial history of pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. the other was the multi-gravidarum, with acquired thrombophilia, who has the past medical history of pulmonary embolism.
Abruptio Placentae ; Antithrombin III ; Cesarean Section ; Factor V ; Female ; Fetal Death ; Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infarction ; Osteoporosis ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy Maintenance ; Pregnancy* ; Protein C ; Protein S ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Thrombocytopenia ; Thromboembolism ; Thrombophilia* ; Venous Thrombosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although physiological effects of external nasal dilators (ENDs) were recently reported on white and black people, there are no available data on Asians. Nasal geometry is affected by many factors such as race, age, or sex. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of ENDs on nasal respiration and patency in healthy Korean adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred healthy Korean adults (50 females and 50 males, aged 20 to 39 years) without nasal complaints, history of sinonasal surgery, nor major structural abnormalities of the nose were recruited. All subjects were required to assess their own sensation of nasal respiration on a 100 mm visual analog scale. Minimal cross-sectional areas (MCAs) and volumes from 0 cm to 5 cm from the nostril (V5s) of both nasal cavities were measured by acoustic rhinometry and added together to obtain the total MCA and V5, respectively. All measurements before application of an END were compared with those 5 minutes after application. RESULTS: The sensation of nasal respiration improved significantly after application of an END in both female and male. The END increased MCA and V5 significantly in both sexes. These acoustic rhinometric changes resulted in 21.1% (male) and 20.5% (female) increment in MCA and 10.0% (male) and 12.5% (female) increment in V5, respectively. However, there were no significant correlations between changes in the subjective and objective parameters. CONCLUSION: ENDs significantly improve the subjective sensation of nasal respiration and increase MCA and nasal cavity volume in healthy Korean adults. However, this improvement in nasal patency does not always coincide with the improvement in the subjective feeling of nasal respiration.
Acoustics* ; Adult* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Continental Population Groups ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nasal Cavity ; Nose ; Respiration* ; Rhinometry, Acoustic ; Sensation ; Visual Analog Scale

Tryptamines are monoamine alkaloids with hallucinogenic properties and are widely abused worldwide. To hasten the regulations of novel substances and predict their abuse potential, we designed and synthesized four novel synthetic tryptamine analogs: Pyrrolidino tryptamine hydrochloride (PYT HCl), Piperidino tryptamine hydrochloride (PIT HCl), N,N-dibutyl tryptamine hydrochloride (DBT HCl), and 2-Methyl tryptamine hydrochloride (2-MT HCl). Then, we evaluated their rewarding and reinforcing effects using the conditioned place preference (CPP) and self-administration (SA) paradigms. We conducted an open field test (OFT) to deter-mine the effects of the novel compounds on locomotor activity. A head-twitch response (HTR) was also performed to characterize their hallucinogenic properties. Lastly, we examined the effects of the compounds on 5-HTR1a and 5-HTR2a in the prefrontal cortex using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. None of the compounds induced CPP in mice or initiated SA in rats. PYT HCl and PIT HCl reduced the locomotor activity and elevated the 5-HTR1a mRNA levels in mice. Acute and repeated treatment with the novel tryptamines elicited HTR in mice. Furthermore, a drug challenge involving a 7-day abstinence from drug use produced higher HTR than acute and repeated treatments. Both the acute treatment and drug challenge increased the 5-HTR2a mRNA levels. Ketanserin blocked the induced HTR. Taken together, the findings suggest that PYT HCl, PIT HCl, DBT HCl, and 2-MT HCl produce hallucinogenic effects via 5-HTR2a stimulation, but may have low abuse potential.

PURPOSE : Since the combination of cisplatin plus gemcitabine (CG) had a significant survival advantage for the treatment of patients with chemotherapynaive advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), CG combination have been evaluated with different schedules. However, the best schedule is still unclear. We designed to compare the efficacy and toxicity of CG combination chemotherapy in two different doses of gemcitabine (1,000 or 1,250 mg/m2 3-weekly). MATERIALS AND METHODS : We randomized patients with stage III or IV NSCLC into either gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m2 or gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2. Patients received cisplatin 60 mg/m2 intravenously on day1 of each 3-week cycle. Gemcitabine was administered intravenously on days 1 and 8 of each 3-week cycle. RESULTS : From April 2002 until July 2004, 125 patients were enrolled from four university hospitals (55 patients in the gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 arm and 70 patients in the gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m2 arm). Response rates were not significantly different in both arms (56.4% vs. 55.7%). However, grade 3 neutropenia was significantly lower in gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 arm compared to gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m2 arm (11.0% vs. 15.8%). No differences in non-haematologic toxicities in both arms except anorexia were observed. The median survival was 13.4 months for gemcitabine 1,000 mg group compared with 15.8 months for gemcitabine 1,250 mg group. There were no statistically significant differences in survival between the groups. CONCLUSION : For stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer, combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 showed equivalent response rate with lesser neutropenia and anorexia compared to treatment with gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m2
Anorexia ; Appointments and Schedules ; Arm ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Cisplatin ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Neutropenia

The typical radiographic findings of pulmonary edema from the increased hydrostatic pressure shows centrally localized consolidation, which is known as a "butterfly or bat's wing" pattern. These terms describe the anatomic distribution of edema that uniformly involve the hilum and medulla of the lung but not the peripheral region of the lung parenchyma (cortex). We present a case of butterfly wing-like pulmonary edema on a chest radiograph by mitral regurgitation due to an idiopathic chordal rupture.
Butterflies ; Chordae Tendineae ; Edema ; Hydrostatic Pressure ; Lung ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency ; Pulmonary Edema* ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Rupture*

OBJECTIVES: The beta3 adrenergic receptor(beta3 -AR) may play an important role in the regulation of energy expenditure and lipolysis. A mutation of the beta3 - AR gene(Trp64Arg) has been reported to be associated with early onset of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM), obesity and syndrome X which are related with insulin resistance. It is well known that Korean NIDDM patients, in contrast to Caucasians, are mainly non-obese and have experienced severe weight loss during the course of disease. We studied the frequency of the mutation in Korean NIDDM patients and non-diabetics control and evaluated the clinical characteristics of Korean obese NIDDM patients. We investigated the frequency of the mutation in NIDDM patients and clinical characteristics of the patients with the mutation in order to elucidate the significance of the mutation in the pathogenesis of NIDDM in Koreans. METHODS: We studied 401 NIDDM patients and 99 controls. The NIDDM patients were divided into two groups, non-obese group and obese group, according to their body mass index at diagnosis of the disease. The Trp64Arg mutation was detected by the PCR/RFLP method using restriction enzyme Mva I. RESULTS: The Trp64Arg allele frequency(16M) of NIDDM did not differ from that(16%) of controls. Although the mutant allele frequency was not different between non-obese and obese group both in NIDDM patients and controls, the frequency of patient with the mutant allele was significantly higher in obese NIDDM patients than in non-obese NIDDM patients(38.5% vs. 26.9%, P=0.04). However, no significant differences were found in clinical and laboratory findings between the NIDDM patients with the mutant allele and those without the mutant allele. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that beta3 -AR mutation might be associated with Korean obese NIDDM, and other factors might also be associated with the development of obesity and insulin resistance in NIDDM patients.
Alleles ; Body Mass Index ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Diagnosis ; Energy Metabolism ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Lipolysis ; Obesity ; Receptors, Adrenergic* ; Weight Loss