Paraquat (1, 1'-dimethy-14, 4' dipyridium chloride: Gramoxon(r)) was first discovered in England in 1955. It has been widely distributed for use in Korea since 1970 as a pesticide and also often the cause of accidental intoxications. The authors would like to report the following case of paraquat intoxicatio in a 13 year old female child admitted via emergency room with complaints of epigastric pain, vomiting and hematuria of four days duration. On admission the data of laboratory evaluation were as follows: BUN/Cr 126/11.6 mg/dl; sGOT/sGPT 641/641 IU/L; total bilirubin/direct bilirubin 3.9/2.4 mg/dl; alkaline phosphatase 396.1 U/L; fecal occult blood test-positive; pH 7.428, pCO2 26.2 mmHg, pO2 131.4 mmHg, base excess -5.0 mmol/L on arterial blood gas analysis (ABGA). Gastroendoscopy revealed esophageal ulcers, and as symptoms of renal failure could not be relieved by hemodialysis, kidney biopsy was performed on the otherwise previously healthy child to establish the cause of renal failure. The result of biopsy revealed tubular necrosis with eosinophilic infiltrations. A more detailed retrograde probe of the child's past medical history evoked that the patient had ingested paraquat in a suicidal attempt. Supportive therapy and hemodialysis were continued thereafter, but the symptoms of renal failure could not be reversed, and the patient eventually died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Adolescent ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bilirubin ; Biopsy ; Blood Gas Analysis ; Child ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; England ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Kidney ; Korea ; Necrosis* ; Occult Blood ; Paraquat* ; Renal Dialysis ; Renal Insufficiency ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; Ulcer ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: We report on the effectiveness of the small incision anterior approach for the deep orbital tumor. METHODS: The authors operated on 5 patients with deep orbital tumor using the small incision anterior approach. RESULTS: Five cases , 2 neurilemmomas, 1 orbital dermoid cyst, 1 angiofibroma, and 1 osteoma, were treated surgically with the small incision anterior approach and had good cosmetic result, early recovery, and showed no serious complications. CONCLUSIONS: The small incision anterior approach for the deep orbital tumor has a number of advantages over lateral orbitotomy, including shorter operation time, early recovery and good cosmetic results. Nevertheless, this technique requires a precise preoperative diagnosis.
Angiofibroma ; Dermoid Cyst ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Neurilemmoma ; Orbit* ; Osteoma

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the effectiveness of endoscopic canaliculodacryocystorhinostomy with two sets of silicone tube intubation in the distal part of canalicular obstruction. METHODS: Endoscopic canaliculodacryocystorhinostomy with double silicone tube intubation was done in 26 patients with canalicular obstruction from January 2002 to December 2002. Probing or trephination was used for recanaliculization of obstructed canaliculi. The silicone tube was left in place for 6 months. RESULTS: The success rate was 76.9% (20 of 26 patients) two months after tube removal. The level of canalicular obstruction or method of bougienage did not affect the success rates. Complications includes granuloma formation (12), synechia of ostium (1), prolepses of tube (2), and acute dacryocystitis(1). CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic canaliculodacryocystorhinostomy with double silicone tube intubation showed a relatively high success rate and was more effective and convenient than conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomy with Jones tube.
Granuloma ; Humans ; Intubation* ; Silicones* ; Trephining

Enteritis cystica profunda is a very rare disease in which a mucin-filled cystic space is surrounded partially with nonneoplastic columnar epithelium in the submucosa of the small intestine. Most of the cases are accompanied by intestinal diseases, and the disease usually occurs in the jejunum and the ileum and there has been no report of a case that occurred in the ampulla of Vater. A 58-year-old healthy female patient without any particular symptom visited the hospital to get additional examination for a mass found on the ampulla of Vater by accident. In esophagogastroduodenoscopy, a cystic mass showing a positive pillow sign was found on the ampulla of Vater. Endoscopic retrogradecholangiopancreatography was conducted as choledochocele was suspected, but no abnormality was found in the biliary system. In endoscopic ultrasonography, multiseptated cystic structures were detected in the submucosal layer of the duodenum. The lesion was resected completely through endoscopic snare polypectomy and the case was histologically diagnosed as enteritis cystica profunda.
Ampulla of Vater ; Biliary Tract ; Choledochal Cyst ; Duodenum ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Endosonography ; Enteritis ; Epithelium ; Female ; Humans ; Ileum ; Intestinal Diseases ; Intestine, Small ; Jejunum ; Rare Diseases ; SNARE Proteins

We examined the inhibitory effects of loquat methanol extract on the adhesion, migration, invasion and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activities of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line. Cells were cultured with DMSO or with 10, 25, or 50 microg/ml of loquat methanol extract. Both leaf and seed extracts significantly inhibited growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner, although leaf extract was more effective. Adhesion and migration were significantly inhibited by loquat extracts in a dose-dependent manner. Loquat extract also inhibited the invasion of breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner and leaf extract was more effective than seed extract. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities were also inhibited by loquat extract. Our results indicate that methanol extracts of loquat inhibit the adhesion, migration and invasion of human breast cancer cells partially through the inhibition of MMP activity and leaf extract has more anti-metastatic effects in cell based assay than seed extract. Clinical application of loquat extract as a potent chemopreventive agent may be helpful in limiting breast cancer invasion and metastasis.
Breast Neoplasms ; Cell Line ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Eriobotrya ; Humans ; Methanol ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Seeds

Primary malignant melanoma of the vagina is extremely rare, accounting for 3% of all primary malignant tumor of the vagina and 0.3~1% of all malignant melanomas in the female. The amelanotic melanoma of the vagina showing no melanin granules on histological examination is exceedingly rare, accounting for only about 10% of all melanoma of the vagina. The amelanotic melanoma of the vagina is often difficult to differentiate from non-epithelial malignant tumor because of the minimal number of melanin granules. We describe a case of primary amelanotic melanoma of the vagina, which was initially suspected to be a non-epithelial malignant tumor, especially malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), but was correctly diagnosed by HMB-45 antibody and S-100 protein immunohistochemical staining. So we present this case with a brief review of literature.
Accounting ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Melanins ; Melanoma ; Melanoma, Amelanotic ; Peripheral Nerves ; S100 Proteins ; Vagina

Laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy has been widely performed for benign and borderline malignancy in the body or tail of the pancreas when there are not oncologic indications for splenectomy. As the need for minimally invasive procedures to reduce postoperative morbidity and improve the quality of life is increasing, many surgeons have attempted to reduce the number of trocars and incision size to minimize access trauma and scarring. Single-port laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy is the result of these efforts; however it has many limitations such as technical difficulty and prolonged operation time. In this article, we report the first case of dual-incision laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy, proving that it can be a safe and feasible minimally invasive procedure for benign or borderline malignant tumors in the body or tail of the pancreas.
Cicatrix ; Laparoscopy ; Pancreas ; Pancreatectomy* ; Quality of Life ; Splenectomy ; Surgical Instruments

PURPOSE: Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using elderly donors is increasing in frequency in response to organ shortage. However, elderly donor graft has been reported to negatively affect graft patency and patient survival. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 604 patients who underwent LDLT at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea between May 1999 and September 2012. Elderly donors were defined as those > or =55 years of age. Here, we evaluate the survival differences and causes of death of recipients of elderly donor grafts. RESULTS: The overall mortality rate of the recipients was significantly higher in the elderly donor group (group A) than in the younger donor group (group B: 46.2% vs. 18.1%, P = 0.004). The survival length of group A was significantly shorter than that of group B (31.2 +/- 31.3 and 51.4 +/- 40.8 months, P = 0.014). The significantly common causes of death in group A were biliary (41.7%) and arterial complication (16.7%), and it was higher than those in group B (P = 0.000 and P = 0.043, respectively). CONCLUSION: LDLT using elderly donors could induce more serious complications and higher mortality rates than those at using younger donors. As such, careful donor selection is needed, especially with regard to assessing the condition of potential elderly donor livers. Furthermore, a large-volume and multicenter study of complications and outcomes of LDLT using elderly donor liver is required.
Aged* ; Cause of Death ; Donor Selection ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Living Donors* ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Tissue Donors* ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: The sagittal alignment of the spine and pelvis is not only closely related to the overall posture of the body but also to the evaluation and treatment of spine disease. In the last few years, the EOS imaging system, a new low-dose radiation X-ray device, became available for sagittal alignment assessment. However, there has been little research on the reliability of EOS. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intrarater and interrater reliability of EOS for the sagittal alignment assessment of the spine and pelvis. METHODS: Records of 46 patients were selected from the EOS recording system between November 2016 and April 2017. The exclusion criteria were congenital spinal anomaly and deformity, and previous history of spine and pelvis operation. Sagittal parameters of the spine and pelvis were measured by three examiners three times each using both manual and EOS methods. Means comparison t-test, Pearson bivariate correlation analysis, and reliability analysis by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for intrarater and interrater reliability were performed using R package “irr.” RESULTS: We found excellent intrarater and interrater reliability of EOS measurements. For intrarater reliability, the ICC ranged from 0.898 to 0.982. For interrater reliability, the ICC ranged from 0.794 to 0.837. We used a paired t-test to compare the values measured by manual and EOS methods: there was no statistically significant difference between the two methods. Correlation analysis also showed a statistically significant positive correlation. CONCLUSIONS: EOS showed excellent reliability for assessment of the sagittal alignment of the spine and pelvis.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Humans ; Pelvis ; Postural Balance ; Posture ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spine ; Whole Body Imaging

About 50 cases of Listeria monocytogenes endocarditis were reported in worldwide literature in 1950-1995. Though clinical and laboratory data suggest a similarity with other types of bacterial endocarditis, the prognosis is more unfavorable and the mortality rate is higher. However, there has not been a report in Korean literature. We report a case of 55 year-old male with rapidly progressive native aortic endocarditis caused by L. monocytogenes. He had neither history of underlying cardiac disease nor definitive predisposing factor. He presented mild dyspnes, chest pain and febrile sensation for a week. Echocardiography showed large vegetation in aortic valve and severe aortic regurgitation. L. monocytogenes grew on blood culture. We underwent artificial aortic valve replacement due to rapidly progessive heart failure. A thromboembolism occured at right femoral artery on postoperative 2nd day was removed successfully. He discharged without any sequellae.
Adult* ; Aortic Valve ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Causality ; Chest Pain ; Echocardiography ; Endocarditis* ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; Femoral Artery ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Listeria monocytogenes* ; Listeria* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Sensation ; Thromboembolism