Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe and analyze the clinicopathological features of primary choriocarcinoma (PCC) observed in male patients treated at the Samsung Medical Center between 1996 and 2020. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of 14 male patients with PCC retrospectively to assess their demographic, histological, and clinical characteristics at the time of diagnosis as well as identify the treatment outcomes. Results: The median age of the patients was 33 years. The primary tumor site was the testicles in seven cases (50%), the mediastinum in six cases (43%), and the brain in one case (7%). The most common metastatic site was the lungs (79%), followed by the brain (43%). All patients with PCC received cytotoxic chemotherapy. Twelve patients had records of their response to cytotoxic chemotherapy; of these 12 patients, eight (8/12, 67%) achieved an objective response, and four (4/12, 33%) achieved stable disease response as the best response during chemotherapy. Conclusion It is known that most male PCC patients eventually develop resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy and die. Factors such as poor response to chemotherapy, high disease burden, brain metastasis, and hemoptysis at the time of diagnosis are associated with shorter survival time in male PCC patients. Programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 blockade therapy can be a salvage treatment for chemotherapy-resistant male PCC patients.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe and analyze the clinicopathological features of primary choriocarcinoma (PCC) observed in male patients treated at the Samsung Medical Center between 1996 and 2020. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of 14 male patients with PCC retrospectively to assess their demographic, histological, and clinical characteristics at the time of diagnosis as well as identify the treatment outcomes. Results: The median age of the patients was 33 years. The primary tumor site was the testicles in seven cases (50%), the mediastinum in six cases (43%), and the brain in one case (7%). The most common metastatic site was the lungs (79%), followed by the brain (43%). All patients with PCC received cytotoxic chemotherapy. Twelve patients had records of their response to cytotoxic chemotherapy; of these 12 patients, eight (8/12, 67%) achieved an objective response, and four (4/12, 33%) achieved stable disease response as the best response during chemotherapy. Conclusion It is known that most male PCC patients eventually develop resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy and die. Factors such as poor response to chemotherapy, high disease burden, brain metastasis, and hemoptysis at the time of diagnosis are associated with shorter survival time in male PCC patients. Programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 blockade therapy can be a salvage treatment for chemotherapy-resistant male PCC patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained by a rebound and non-contact tonometer in eyes with a therapeutic contact lens (CL) after vitrectomy. Methods: In 60 eyes of 60 patients who underwent vitrectomy for vitreoretinal disease, IOP was measured using a rebound tonometer (iCare ic200®; IOPRT) and non-contact computerized air puff tonometer (CT-80, IOPNCT), before and after wearing a CL (Purevision2®, +0.0 diopter). The mean IOP of three consecutive measurements were analyzed, and a comparative analysis with IOP measured by a Goldman applanation tonometer (IOPGAT) was performed. Results: The mean IOPRT without and with the CL was 12.55 ± 5.43 and 13.12 ± 5.13 mmHg, respectively, showing a statistically significant difference (p = 0.02) and strong positive correlation (r = 0.90, p < 0.001). The mean IOPNCT with and without the CL was 12.18 ± 3.24 and 12.17 ± 3.14 mmHg, showing no statistically significant difference (p = 0.17). The consistency with IOPGAT (12.57 ± 5.22 mmHg) was highest in IOPRT without the CL, followed by IOPRT with the CL, IOPNCT without the CL, and IOPNCT with the CL (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.955, 0.945, 0.856, and 0.850, respectively). In addition, the rebound tonometer successfully measured IOP, regardless of whether the CL was worn; however, the non-contact tonometer failed to measure IOP in seven eyes without the CL and nine with the CL. No difference was observed according to intraocular tamponade type. Conclusions A rebound tonometer can be used as an alternative IOL measuring method in eyes for which it is difficult to use a Goldman applanation tonometer due to the postoperative presence of a therapeutic CL.

PURPOSE: This study was done to explore communication between nurses during preceptorship. METHODS: A qualitative study, using content analysis was conducted. Semistructured interviews were held with 10 nurses working in urban hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 226 significant statements were selected from the data and classified into 4 categories and 23 subcategories. Communication experiences of new nurses' own performance were responses to reproach - acceptance and apology, and unresponsiveness due to feeling small and uncomfortable; responses to questions - misanswer; responses to directions - unconditional acceptance. Communication experiences of new nurses' performance by nurse preceptors were kindness, stigmatization, talking behind one's back, criticism and reproach, impolite words, and emotional expression. Communication experiences of nurse preceptors's own performance were directives, sympathy, reproach, unkindness, authoritative strictness, and nonverbal expression: being cold, and lessening of tension. Communication experiences of nurse preceptors' performance by new nurses were response to criticism - recognition and apology for mistakes, evasion of responsibility, and excuses; responses to explanations-active acceptance, and difficulty with communication due to lack of comprehension. CONCLUSION: These results provide deep understanding of nurses' communication during preceptorship and should help in developing comprehensive education programs for preceptor nurses and new nurses.
Comprehension ; Education ; Hospitals, Urban ; Preceptorship* ; Qualitative Research ; Stereotyping

Partial unilateral lentiginosis (PUL) is an unusual pigmentary disorder that's characterized by multiple lentigines in a unilateral distribution. The lesions often have a segmental pattern with a sharp demarcation at the midline. This is sometimes combined with other disorders such as neurofibromatosis or cafe-au-lait macules (CALMs). The presence of multiple CALMs in the same distribution as the lentigines on a PUL patient makes it difficult to differentiate PUL from segmental neurofibromatosis. We present here a 25-year-old woman with an unusual combination of several caf?-au-lait macules and scattered numerous lentigines involving the left side of the abdomen, flank and back.
Abdomen ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Lentigo ; Neurofibromatoses

The skin lesion of herpes zoster is classically limited to single dermatomal area, and most cases of multidermatomal herpes zoster have contiguous skin lesions. Noncontigous multidermatomal herpes zoster is very rare in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised persons. The phenomenon of zoster occurring in two noncontiguous dermatomes has been referred to as zoster duplex unilateralis or bilateralis. We report a case of herpes zoster multiplex in five disparate dermatomes in a 71-year-old woman with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Aged ; Female ; Herpes Zoster ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Skin

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a chronic autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease that usually occurs in the elderly. Two types of clinical variants exist. The generalized form typically involves the lower abdomen, groin, thighs and inner arms. The localized forms of BP include (1) mucous membrane pemphigoid or cicatrical pemphigoid, (2) localized scarring pemphigoid or Brunsting-Perry pemphigoid, and (3) localized nonscarring pemphigoid. We report here on a case of localized nonscarring pemphigoid on the face of a 71-years-old man.
Abdomen ; Aged ; Arm ; Blister ; Cicatrix ; Groin ; Humans ; Mucous Membrane ; Pemphigoid, Bullous ; Thigh

BACKGROUND: The incidence of renal insufficiency is reported about 18-27% during the thoracoabdominal aneurysm surgery. The possible mechanisms are reduction and maldistribution of renal blood flow, activation of renin angiotensin system, release of various mediators. In this study, we observed the effect of nicardipine, one of the calcium channel blockers that commonly used, on the systemic hemodynamics and the renal fuctions. METHODS: A total of 13 mongrel dogs were divided into two groups: control group (C, n = 7), nicardipine administration group (N, n = 6). After brachial arterial and Swan-Ganz catheterization, midline abdominal incision was made. For the aortic cross clamping the supraceilac aorta was exposed and the doppler flowmeter probe was placed on the left renal artery. The thermal diffusion microprobe was inserted in the renal parenchyme to measure local renal perfusion. At sixty minutes after aortic cross clamping, systemic hemodynamic data, renal blood flow and local renal perfusion were measured and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 hours after unclamping the same parameters were measured. RESULTS: There were no differences on renal blood flow, renal perfusion and oxygen extraction ratio between two groups. The renal blood flow and renal perfusion did not recover to the baseline level after unclamping in both groups. The plasma renin activity, serum creatinine concentration and cystatin-c did not show any difference between groups respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the administration of nicardipine after supraceliac aortic unclamping to improve the renal function was not effective in experimental dogs.
Aneurysm ; Animals ; Aorta ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; Catheterization, Swan-Ganz ; Constriction* ; Creatinine ; Dogs* ; Flowmeters ; Hemodynamics* ; Incidence ; Nicardipine* ; Oxygen ; Perfusion ; Plasma ; Renal Artery ; Renal Circulation ; Renal Insufficiency ; Renin ; Renin-Angiotensin System ; Thermal Diffusion

BACKGROUND: Hypopituitarism is associated with osteoporosis and osteopenia especially when hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is present. Despite hypopituitarism being an important cause of secondary osteoporosis, osteoporosis in patients receiving surgery for pituitary tumors in Korea has not been studied. In this study, we evaluated the effects of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on bone mineral density (BMD) in postoperative hypogonadal patients with pituitary tumors. METHODS: To examine the effect of TRT on BMD, we performed a retrospective observational study in 21 postoperative male patients who underwent pituitary tumor surgery between 2003 and 2012 at the Ajou University Hospital. Testosterone was replaced in postoperative hypogonadal patients by regular intramuscular injection, daily oral medication, or application of transdermal gel. BMD (g/cm2) measurements of central skeletal sites (lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total femur) were obtained using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (GE Lunar). For lumbar spine BMD, L1 to L4 values were chosen for analysis. Femur neck and total femur were also analyzed. RESULTS: During the follow-up period (mean, 56 months; range, 12 to 99 months) serum testosterone levels increased with the administration of TRT (P=0.007). There was significant improvement (4.56%+/-9.81%) in the lumbar spine BMD compared to baseline BMD. There were no significant changes in the femur neck BMD or total femur BMD. We did not find any statistically significant relationships between changes in testosterone levels and BMD using Spearman correlation analysis. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that TRT used in the postoperative period for hypogonadal pituitary tumor surgery patients may have beneficial effects on the BMD of the spine.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Bone Density* ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Hypopituitarism ; Injections, Intramuscular ; Korea ; Male* ; Observational Study ; Osteoporosis ; Pituitary Neoplasms* ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine ; Testosterone*