A study on the histologic findings of cryptorchid testis according to age and location of testis was performed on 36 patients who were undergone orchiectomy or testicular biopsy among 128 cases of cryptorchidism in the Department of Urology, Chungnam National University Hospital, from January. 1984 to September, 1989. The results were as followings : 1. The age distribution of 128 patients was ranged from 2 to 30 years, and the age group of 6 to 10 years was most commonly seen(37 case, 28.9% ). Bilaterality was 17.2% (22 cases), and the ratio of right to left was 1.7:1. 2. The mean count of spermatogonia per tubule was decreased with aging in the group above the external inguinal ring, but not in the group below the external inguinal ring. 3. The mean tubular diameter of the seminiferous tubule was more increased with aging in the group below the external inguinal ring than in the group above the external inguinal ring, but smaller than normal control. 4. The thickness of basement membrane of the seminiferous tubule was more increased with aging in the group above the external inguinal ring than in the group below the external inguinal ring. 5. The mean tubular fertility index was decreased with aging in the group above the external inguinal ring, but not in the group below the external inguinal ring. From the above results, it was suggested that the cryptorchid testis would be undergone to the progressive degenerative histologic changes with aging, so our attention should be directed to early treatment at least before 2 years of age.
Age Distribution ; Aging ; Basement Membrane ; Biopsy ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Cryptorchidism ; Fertility ; Humans ; Inguinal Canal ; Male ; Orchiectomy ; Seminiferous Tubules ; Spermatogonia ; Testis* ; Urology

Adrenocortical adenomas are relatively rare tumor in retroperitoneum, and most cases are nonfunctioning tumors. Recently, we experienced two cases of functioning Adrenocortical adenomas giving rise to adrenogenital syndrome and Cushing's syndrome.
Adrenal Glands ; Adrenocortical Adenoma* ; Adrenogenital Syndrome ; Cushing Syndrome

Aggressive angiomyxomas (AAMs) are rare, benign, but locally aggressive, hypocellular soft tissue neoplasms found in the vulvovaginal region. AAMs are most commonly found in women in their reproductive years. Only about 150 cases of this rare, soft tissue tumor have been reported thus far, most of which are reported from the gynecologic, obstetric, urologic, and pathologic fields. AAMs are considered to be a slow-growing mesenchymal tumor with a locally infiltrative growth pattern. There are only two reports of metastasic disease. We have managed a case of AAM which occurred during adolescence and was pathologically-confirmed.
Adolescent ; Female ; Humans ; Myxoma ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms ; Vulva

Aggressive angiomyxomas (AAMs) are rare, benign, but locally aggressive, hypocellular soft tissue neoplasms found in the vulvovaginal region. AAMs are most commonly found in women in their reproductive years. Only about 150 cases of this rare, soft tissue tumor have been reported thus far, most of which are reported from the gynecologic, obstetric, urologic, and pathologic fields. AAMs are considered to be a slow-growing mesenchymal tumor with a locally infiltrative growth pattern. There are only two reports of metastasic disease. We have managed a case of AAM which occurred during adolescence and was pathologically-confirmed.
Adolescent ; Female ; Humans ; Myxoma ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms ; Vulva

Retroperitoneal teratoma is a rare congenital neoplasm derived from three germ layers and generally recognized as a disease of childhood. Those who were not operated on did not fare any better. The mortality from the disease was virtually 100%. Recently, we experienced a case of retroperitoneal teratoma.
Germ Layers ; Mortality ; Teratoma*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although LIN28A is known to potentially play a role in the oncogenesis of various cancers, whether LIN28A expression is a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer has not been fully explored. We sought to evaluate clinicopathological characteristics according to the expression of LIN28A in numerous gastric cancer tissue samples. METHODS: LIN28A expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of a tissue microarray comprising 288 gastric cancer tissues and 288 adjacent normal tissues. Clinicopathological characteristics, including overall survival, were compared according to LIN28A expression. RESULTS: The IHC staining score was lower for the cancer tissues than the normal tissues (p<0.001). However, no significant differences were observed in the clinicopathological characteristics between the low and high LIN28A expression groups. In addition, the 5-year overall survival rate did not differ between the two groups: 75.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 69.3% to 81.7%) versus 71.6% (95% CI, 63.3% to 80.9%) for low versus high expression, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of LIN28A did not appear to play a distinct role in predicting the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with gastric cancer. In addition, LIN28A expression was not an independently associated factor for overall survival in patients with gastric cancer.
Carcinogenesis ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of leptin on in vitro development of mouse embryos. METHODS: Female C57BL mice, aged 8 to 15 weeks, were superovulated with IP injection of 5 IU of PMSG followed by 5 IU hCG at 48 hours later. And then the mice were mated with male mice. The next morning, one-cell embryos were collected and cultured in media added with various concentrations (0, 5, 50, 500 ng/mL) of leptin for 4 days. In addition, to determine whether the sensitivity to leptin varied at different stages of development, embryos at 2- or 4-cell stage were treated with the same concentrations of leptin and cultured up to blastocyst stage. The total cell number of blastocyst was assessed and the expression of leptin receptor was examined in all stages of development by immnuofluorescence. RESULTS: The rate of blastocyst formation from one-cell embryos significantly increased at culture media that leptin was added at 50 ng/mL concentration, whereas decreased at 500 ng/mL concentration compared to the control (P<0.05). The development rate of embryos, from 2-cell stage, was similar to the rate from 1-cell stage. However, the addition of leptin to culture media in 4-cell embryos had no significant effects on embryo development compared to the control. In addition, the dose-dependent stimulatory or inhibitory effect of leptin on embryo development was weakened at 2-cell and 4-cell embryo stages compared one-cell embryo stage. The total cell number of blastocyst also significantly increased at 50 ng/mL of leptin, but decreased at 500 ng/mL. Leptin receptor was expressed in all stages from one-cell embryos to blastocyst. The intensity of Ob-Rb immnuostaining was mainly stronger in one- or two-cell embryos, decreased with advancing development stages, and increased again in blastocyst. CONCLUSION: This study shows that addition of leptin to embryo culture media affects embryo development in a dose-dependent and developmental stage-dependent manner. The effects of leptin seems to be associated with the expression pattern of leptin receptor at different stages of development.
Aged ; Animals ; Blastocyst ; Cell Count ; Culture Media ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; Leptin ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Pregnancy ; Receptors, Leptin

Transverse testicular ectopia is a rare anomaly in which both testes descend through one inguinal canal and are in the same side of the scrotum. A case report of transverse testicular ectopia with incomplete regression of Mullerian duct in a 11 months old boy is detailed with a brief review of literature.
Humans ; Infant ; Inguinal Canal ; Male ; Scrotum ; Testis

OBJECTIVE: Recently it has been proposed that stem cells may be associated with the pathogenesis of endometriosis. The purposes of this study are to investigate whether the eutopic endometrial cells of women with or without endometriosis show the characteristics of stem cells in vitro and have a difference of the expressions of the undifferentiated stem cell markers as OCT-4 and CXCR4. METHODS: A total of 6 women with advanced endometriosis and a total of 10 women without endometriosis, adenomyosis or leiomyoma were included in this study. The eutopic endometrial cells, which were obtained from the menstrual blood at menstrual cycle day 2 to 4, were cultured in vitro for approximately 2 weeks, subsequently the putative very small stem cells were separated by Percoll density gradient method and were cultured. The expressions of OCT-4 and CXCR4 were analyzed by real time RT-PCR. RESULTS: The eutopic endometrial cells of the group of endometriosis compared with the control group showed the different morphological characteristics in vitro; more commonly heterogeneous supportive cells, very small round cells less than 3 micrometer and 5~15 micrometer sized hyperchromatic round cells. After the separation of very small round cells by Percoll density gradient method, these cells showed the several characteristics of stem cells; self-renewal, asymmetric cell division, colony formation and embryoid body-like formation. Also These cells showed the similar characteristics of very small embryonic-like stem cells; the mobile cells smaller than erythrocyte, the cell migration or adhesion to supportive cells, the sphere formation by cell aggregation and the formation of new differentiated cell by cell fusion. The expressions of OCT-4 and CXCR4 in the group of endometriosis are respectively 5.66 times and 17.69 times as high as the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The very small round cells less than 3 micrometer and 5~15 micrometer sized hyperchromatic round cells, which showed the several characteristics of stem cells in vitro, were more common in eutopic endometrial cells of patients with endometriosis and the expressions of OCT-4 and CXCR4 were significantly higher. This study suggests that stem cells might play a key role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis and OCT-4 and CXCR4 might be used as a tool for diagnosis or follow-up.
Adenomyosis ; Asymmetric Cell Division ; Cell Aggregation ; Cell Fusion ; Cell Movement ; Endometriosis ; Endometrium ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; Menstrual Cycle ; Povidone ; Silicon Dioxide ; Stem Cells

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma is a rare variant of adenocarcinoma of the stomach. The tumor has been found to be an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) producing carcinoma arising in extrahepatic organs, and it mimics hepatocellular carcinoma in terms of morphology and function. Vascular invasion, usually prominent, is often complicated by extensive liver metastases, and vascular permeation, especially in the veins, has been described as a characteristic finding of this tumor. A patient with hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach with a huge mass is described. Gastrofiberscopy revealed an elevated lesion with a central depression on the greater curvature of the antrum and with extrinsic compression on the lesser curvature and the duodenum. Computed tomography revealed a large lobulated mass in the lesser curvature of the stomach, attached from the liver, gall bladder and porta hepatitis to the pancreas. The AFP serum level was markedly elevated. After a diagnosis was made of AFP-producing stomach carcinoma with huge lymph node metastasis, subtotal gastectomy with wedge resection of the liver, and cholecystectomy including the huge mass ware performed. Microscopically, the tumor and intraabdominal huge mass showed mainly hepatoid differentiation. The tumor showed immunohistochemical positivity for AFP and huge lesser omental metastasis with adhesion to the liver and extensive venous invasion. Lymph node metastasis was not found. According to these histopathological findings, the tumor was diagnosed as hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach with venous invasion. We report this rare variant of adenocarcinoma of the stomach, which mimics hepatocellular carcinoma in its propensity for venous permeation.
Adenocarcinoma* ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholecystectomy ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Duodenum ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Liver ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas ; Stomach* ; Urinary Bladder ; Veins