No abstract available.

We introduce a new operative method for acute epidural hematoma(AEDH) through small craniotomy. Between January 1999 and December 2001, 63 patients underwent craniotomy in our hospital to evacuate an acute posttraumatic epidural hematoma. Among these, we operated 18 patients with linear scalp incision and about 4 X 4cm sized small craniotomy. After operation, neurological symptoms were improved and there were no significant postoperative complications in all patients. This operative method is simple and less time consuming. It can be done under the local anesthesia and may be useful to all AEDH without severe brain swelling, subdural hematoma and intracerebral hematoma.
Anesthesia, Local ; Brain Edema ; Craniotomy* ; Hematoma* ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Humans ; Postoperative Complications ; Scalp

BACKGROUND: In recent years, lung cancer has been one of most common cause of death in Korea. Despite many physician's high degree of pessimism about the gains made in treatments progressive improvement in the survival of lung cancer by treatment has occurred, particulary in the early stages of the disease. However, a lot of patients refuse treatment or give up in the fight against the disease. This study was done to evaluate factors ifluencing the compliance to therapy and to lead in the establishment of special programs to enhance compliance in patients with lung cancer. METHODS: The medical records of 903 patients, whose ECOG(Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status was 3 or less and whose medical record was relatively satisfactory, among 1141 patients diagnosed with lung cancer between January 1989 and December 1996 were reviewed retrospectively. Compliance was classified into three groups based on the degree of compliance with physicians practice guideline : (a) complaints ; (b) patients who initially complied but gave up of themselves midway during the course of treatment ; (c) noncompliants who refused the treatment. RESULTS: The overall compliance rats was 63.9%, which was progressively increased from 57.3-61.3% in 1989 and 1990 to 64.2-67.5% in 1995 and 1996. Age, education level and occupation of patients bore statistically significant relationship with the compliance but sell marital status and smoking history did not. The compliance was significantly higher in patients without symptoms than with, and was also significantly higher in patients with good performance status. The compliance was significantly high in patients with NSCLC(non-small cell lung cancer) compared to SCLC(small cell lung cancer), but after exclusion of stage l and ll, among NSCLC, which had higher compliance to surgery there was no significant difference of compliance by histology. The compliance was significantly lower in advanced stage. CONCLUSION: To enhance the compliance, special care including education programs about therapy including complicantion and prognosis are necessary, especially for educationally and economically disadvantaged patients.
Animals ; Cause of Death ; Compliance* ; Education ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Marital Status ; Medical Records ; Occupations ; Prognosis ; Rats ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Vulnerable Populations

Abscesses in the spinal epidural space are seen in 0.2~1.2 patients per 10,000 hospital admissions and are much rarer than intracranial abscess. The morbidity and mortality of patients with infections in this location can be high, and most authors emphasize prompt diagnosis combined with appropriate antibiotics and surgical theraphy. Although laminectomy is frequently used for deagnosis and decompression of the neural element, it can lead to instability, and there are orther reports emphasizing the importance of anterior decompression with stabilization. We discussed the clinical features, radiologic findings of the case, and reviewed the literatures of this disease.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Decompression ; Diagnosis ; Epidural Abscess* ; Epidural Space ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Mortality

Abscesses in the spinal epidural space are seen in 0.2~1.2 patients per 10,000 hospital admissions and are much rarer than intracranial abscess. The morbidity and mortality of patients with infections in this location can be high, and most authors emphasize prompt diagnosis combined with appropriate antibiotics and surgical theraphy. Although laminectomy is frequently used for deagnosis and decompression of the neural element, it can lead to instability, and there are orther reports emphasizing the importance of anterior decompression with stabilization. We discussed the clinical features, radiologic findings of the case, and reviewed the literatures of this disease.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Decompression ; Diagnosis ; Epidural Abscess* ; Epidural Space ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Mortality

An ectopic pregnancy in the abdominal organs is very rare. Primary intestinal pregnancy is considered the rarest form of extrauterine pregnancy, and only a few well-documented cases have been reported. Herein, a case of an abdominal pregnancy in a 25-year-old woman, with massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding, is reported. The source of bleeding could not be identified, despite gastroscopy, ultrasonography and angiography investigations. A diagnostic laparotomy disclosed an abdominal pregnancy, causing an erosion of the jejunal wall at the site of the pregnancy, with massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding. An abdominal pregnancy is seldom included in the differential diagnosis of lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The possibility of intestinal erosion in an abdominal pregnancy should be borne in mind in cases of lower gastrointestinal bleeding.
Adult ; Angiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Gastroscopy ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Abdominal* ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; Ultrasonography

No abstract available.
Embryonic Structures* ; Fluorescence* ; Humans* ; In Situ Hybridization* ; Preimplantation Diagnosis*

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the surgical outcomes of bifrontal interhemispheric(BIH) approach and compare them to those of the pterional approach for the treatment of craniopharyngioma. METHODS: Seventeen patients had their first operation for the resection of craniopharyngiomas between 2000 and 2004 at our medical center. Eleven patients who had the pterional approach and 6 with the BIH approach were enrolled. The age range at the time of surgery was 5 to 80 years (mean age 35.6 years old). The presenting symptoms were visual disturbance in 12 patients and signs of increased intracranial pressure in 5 patients. RESULTS: The tumors were totally removed in 3(27 %) and subtotally in 8(73 %) patients with the pterional approach. Total tumor removal was achieved in 5 out of 6(83%) patients by the BIH approach, except 1 patient with a subchiasmatic lesion. Vision was improved in 4(36 %) patients treated with the pterional approach and in all patients treated by the BIH approach CONCLUSION: The BIH approach for craniopharyngioma surgery may be an effective and safe approach for tumors that extend outside of the sellar-suprasellar region with acceptable outcomes.
Craniopharyngioma* ; Humans ; Intracranial Pressure

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of conventional chest radiography and abdominal CT for early detection of pulmonary metastases after curative surgery for colorectal cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 138 cases of pulmonary metastases from a group of colorectal-cancer patients, who were recruited from 1994 to 2002 at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, and who had been surgically treated with a curative resection. RESULTS: The detection rates for pulmonary metastases were 34.1% by conventional chest radiography, 50.0% by abdominal CT, and 15.9% by other means. For stage I and II tumors, conventional chest radiography was superior to abdominal CT (45.7% vs. 34.3%, P<0.05) for detecting pulmonary metastases. On the contrary, for stage III tumors, abdominal CT was superior to conventional chest radiography (55.3% vs. 30.1%, P<0.05). Compared with stage I and II, pulmonary metastases in stage III had a tendency to be more numerous, bilateral, and extra-pulmonary. They also had a low detection rate by conventional chest radiography and a higher detection rate by abdominal CT, and they were associated with poor survival. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional chest radiography is no more useful in detecting early pulmonary metastases after curative colorectal surgery than abdominal CT, especially for stage III tumors. We propose the use of routine chest CT or extended abdominal CT for screening of occult lung metastases in stage III colorectal cancer patients.
Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Colorectal Surgery ; Humans ; Lung ; Mass Screening ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Thorax* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics between hepatic resection and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer. METHODS: Among 183 patients who were diagnosed as having colorectal cancer with hepatic metastases from May 1999 to Dec. 2002, excluding 56 patients who did not undergo a hepatic resection or RFA due to multiple hepatic metastases or other distant metastases, 127 patients who were treated with a pure hepatic resection (N=68), pure RFA (N=35), or a hepatic resection with RFA (N=24) synchronous or metachronous were reviewed in this study. The study included metastatic hepatic tumor size, number, distribution, disease-free survival rate, and overall survival rate. RESULTS: The mean hepatic tumor sizes in the resection group, the RFA group, and the resection with RFA group were 3.3 cm, 3.0 cm, and 2.5 cm, respectively, but the differences in the sizes had no statistical significance (P>0.1). In the view of the number of hepatic metastases, single metastases were the most prevalent kind in the resection group and the RFA group (64.7% and 60.0%) while multiple metastases were the most prevalent kind in the resection with RFA (20/24, 83.3%). In the resection and the RFA groups, a unilobar distribution was the most common (88.2% and 68.6%), but a bilobar distribution was the most common (87.5%) in the resection with RFA group. The disease-free survival rates were 42.2% (resection group), 30.7% (RFA group), and 22.2% (resection with RFA group) in the third year (P=0.65). The overall survival rates were 70.9% (resection group), 68.4% (RFA group), and 62.9% (resection with RFA group) in the third year (P=0.19). CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant statistical differences in the disease-free survival and the overall survival rates between the three groups. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is considered as not only a complementary but also an alternative treatment tool to hepatic resection in the treatment of hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer and has a similar survival rate.
Catheter Ablation* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Survival Rate