It has been known that estradial(E2) level is concerned with the quality, number and growing of follicles. Determination of the serum levels of E2 has been used to predict the oocyte maturity. We experienced the rare case who has significantly low serum E2 level(551.26 pg/ml) in spite of multiple ovarian responses by sonographic finding, but from her we obtained 23 oocytes on MCD#16 after COH with ultrashort protocol(HP-FSH 150 IU, daily). The numbers of retrieved oocyte were 23 and fertilization rate was 56.6%, so the result of IVF-ET was successful twin pregnancy. Serum estradiol level and sonographic finding are essential to measure the number and growing of follicles, but E2 levels may be too unreliable to be used as sole parameter for the number and maturity of oocytes.
Estradiol* ; Fertilization ; Humans ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Twin ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: Sympathetic blocking agent, esmolol (selective beta 1 blocker) or labetalol ( alpha and beta blocker) would prevent the hypertension and tachycardia from endotracheal intubation. We have carried out the study to see the effects of esmolol or labetalol on the blood pressure, heart rate, rate pressure product and plasma catecolamines during the endotracheal intubation. METHODS: Thirty-three ASA physical status 1 or 2 adult patients were allocated into three groups; Group I:control (n=10), Group II:esmolol (n=11) and Group III: labetalol (n=12). In Group I, 2 ml of normal saline, in Group II, 1 mg/kg of esmolol, and in Group III, 0.2 mg/kg of labetalol were given 3, 2 and 4 minutes before endotracheal intubation. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured after arrival at the operating room, before endotracheal intubation and after endotracheal intubation at 15, 60, 120, 180 and 300 seconds interval under the inhalation anesthesia (enflurane-N2O-O2). Rate-pressure product was calculated from the heart rate and systolic blood pressure (RPP = heart rate x systolic blood pressure). The plasma cathecolamines, dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine, were measured before intubation as a baseline value and 2 minute after intubation. RESULTS: Systolic blood pressure, rate-pressure product and heart rate were significantly lower in esmolol and labetalol groups than in control group after intubation ( p<0.05). Esmolol reduced the heart rate and the rate-pressure product than labetalol, but statistically there were no significance (P > 0.05). Plasma level of dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine showed higher values after intubation in all three groups ( p<0.05). But there were no difference among groups (P>0.05). The side effects of esmolol and labetalol did not appear at all. CONCLUSION: 1 mg/kg of esmolol given 2 min before intubation or 0.2 mg/kg of labetalol given 4 min before intubation reduce increasing of blood pressure and heart rate, caused by adnergic response following endotracheal intubation, significantly. The reason is that esmolol and labetalol do not decrease release of catecholamines but attenuate responses of elevated catecholamines following endotracheal intubation.
Adult ; Anesthesia, Inhalation ; Blood Pressure ; Catecholamines ; Dopamine ; Epinephrine ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal* ; Labetalol* ; Norepinephrine ; Operating Rooms ; Plasma ; Tachycardia

The amyloid deposition observed in secondary amyloidosis frequently involves the thyroid gland, but rarely is a goiter responsible for this. We report here the pathologic findings of a case of amyloid goiter with involvement of a parathyroid gland in an euthyroid patient. The patient presented with an enlarged thyroid, symptoms of upper airway obstruction and dysphagia.
Airway Obstruction ; Amyloid* ; Amyloidosis ; Deglutition Disorders ; Goiter* ; Humans ; Parathyroid Glands ; Plaque, Amyloid ; Thyroid Gland

A neuroendocrine carcinoma of the anal canal is a very rare entity; however, this type of tumor is known for its aggressive progression and poor prognosis. We describe the case of a 58-year-old female with a neuroendocrine carcinoma arising in the anal canal. The tumor was found in the anal canal with multiple liver metastases. The patient died due to massive liver metastases 11months after diagnosis and operation. For its rarity and clinical significance, we report the case with a review of the literature.
Anal Canal* ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Liver ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the clinical and pathological characteristics of immature teratoma of the ovary. METHODS: Between 1990 and 2003, 26 patients with immature teratoma 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 mean and median age at diagnosis was 27.0 and 25.5 years (range 11-58 years), respectively. Tumors were 73.1% (19/26) stage I, 3.8% (1/26) stage II, 19.2% (5/26) stage III, and 3.8% (1/26) stage IV. Eighteen patients (69.2%) had pathologic grade 2 or 3. Twenty of 26 patients underwent the conservative surgery including unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, unilateral oophorectomy or cystectomy, and other patients were performed the total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. All except five patients received adjuvant combination chemotherapy. Second look operation following combination chemotherapy was done in nine cases. Two patients who had grade III tumors died. Follow-up was available for all the patients, with a mean duration of 43.9 months. No recurrence was observed during this period. CONCLUSION: Immature teratoma of the ovary is a potentially curable disease in today's practice. Low stage and low grade tumors have an excellent prognosis and conservative surgery and preservation of fertility is warranted in those cases.
Cystectomy ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Fertility ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Korea ; Obstetrics ; Ovariectomy ; Ovary* ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Teratoma*

A hospitalist-run acute medical unit (AMU) opened at a tertiary care hospital on August 2015 for the first time in Korea. Patients visiting the emergency department (ED) with acute medical problems are admitted to the AMU. They stay in that unit for less than 72 hours and are discharged or transferred to specialty wards if longer treatment is necessary. We reviewed 19,450 medical admissions through the ED from January 2014 to September 2016. The median length of stay (LOS) significantly decreased from 10.0 days (interquartile range [IQR], 5.5–16.7) to 9.1 days (IQR, 5.1–15.0) (P < 0.001) after the establishment of the AMU. The median waiting time in the ED significantly shortened by 40% (P < 0.001). Future studies on the impact of AMU on in-patient morbidity, mortality, re-admission rate, and patient or staff satisfaction are necessary.
Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Hospital Medicine ; Hospitalists ; Humans ; Korea ; Length of Stay* ; Mortality ; Tertiary Healthcare*

PURPOSE: Local recurrence after curative resection of colorectal cancer has an important influence on both survival and quality of life. The ability to predict local recurrence after a curative resection of colorectal cancer may be useful for an intensive follow-up program and for a decision on adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to analyze the factors affecting the incidence of local recurrence after a curative resection of colorectal cancer. METHODS: A retrospective review of 390 patients who had a curative resection for a primary colorectal cancer by a single surgeon at the Department of Surgery, Inha University Hospital, between June 1996 and July 2002 was done. The medical records of patients diagnosed with a local recurrence were reviewed. Local recurrence was defined as any recurrence within the field of resection, regardless of the presence or absence of distant metastasis, that was diagnosed by using colonoscopy with biopsy and/or radiologic imaging. RESULTS: Local recurrences were detected in 40 patients (10.3%). The gender distribution of patients with local recurrence was 24 males and 16 females with a mean age of 59.8 years. The median time to local recurrence was 15 months. The most common site of local recurrence was the anastomosis site, followed by a regional lymph node, the pelvicoperineal area, and the presacral area. Local recurrence was related to the depth of the primary tumor (P=0.027), lymphatics or vascular invasion (P=0.003), perineural invasion (P= 0.000), nodal status (P=0.000), and distant metastasis (P= 0.002). However, there was no statistically significant relation between local recurrence and primary tumor location (P=0.053), primary tumor size (P=0.982), tumor differentiation (0.256), and preoperative CEA level (P=0.481). CONCLUSIONS: The depth of the primary tumor, lymphatics or vascular invasion, and perineural invasion were significant clinicopathologic factors of local recurrence, but tumor location, tumor size, tumor differentiation, and preoperative serum CEA level were not.
Biopsy ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Quality of Life ; Recurrence* ; Retrospective Studies

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are the most common subset of mesenchymal tumors that arise from the gastrointestinal tract. They most commonly arise in the stomach, followed by the small bowel and, rarely, the rectum, esophagus and colon. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors and the specific c-kit protein (CD117)-positive mesenchymal tumors, have been sporadically reported in the rectum. We report here on a 12-year-old boy who underwent low anterior resection of huge gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the rectum. The diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining of the tumor. The specimen was revealed to be a polypoid fungating tumor that, measured 6.0 x 6.0 cm in size, which consisted histologically of spindle-shaped cells. The tumor cells were positive for c-kit, vimentin, S-100, desmin, and SMA, although the results of the CD34 test were negative. In general, Gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the rectum predominantly occur between the sixth and seventh decades and they are rarely seen in individuals less than 40 years of age. To the best of our knowledge, our case is the youngest reported patient in the English literature who had as gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the rectum.
Child ; Colon ; Desmin ; Diagnosis ; Esophagus ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Male ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; Rectum* ; Stomach ; Vimentin

PURPOSE: Gallbladder cancer, which is the most common malignancy of the biliary tract, is frequently associated with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes with gallbladder cancer according to the surgical treatment, pathologic stage, and prognostic factors. METHOD: The medical records of 52 consecutive patients with gallbladder cancer treated at our institution from June 1996 through June 2005 were reviewed retrospectively. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method (mean followed period 60 months) and the log-rank test. Prognostic factors were analyzed using Cox regression. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 67 years. Fiftysix percent of patients were female. Twentyeight patients (56%) underwent curative resection (5 simple cholecystectomies and 23 radical cholecystectomies). There were no procedure-related deaths. The Overall 5-year survival was 18%. Patients who underwent curative resection had a higher 5-year survival rate (40%) than patients who underwent palliative surgery (0%; P=0.0001). The palliative surgery, high T stage, positive lymph node metastasis were significant factors predictive of worse survivial. CONCLUSION: The good long-term survival may be achieved by an early diagnosis and radical resection.
Biliary Tract ; Cholecystectomy ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms* ; Gallbladder* ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Palliative Care ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The anorectal function after a low anterior resection for rectal cancer recovered progressively by 6 12 months after the operation, but the mechanisms and the recovery process are not well understood. The aim of this study was to correlate postoperative anorectal function after low anterior resection with physiologic parameters. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients who underwent a low anterior resection for rectal cancer were studied. The control group was consisted of normal persons. Anorectal physiologic studies were conducted for 6 months postoperatively by using defecographys, anorectal manometry and electomyogram of pudendal nerve. RESULTS: The postoperative anorectal function was gradully improved with time. Defecograms showed that the resting, squeezing, and straining anorectal angles were not significantly increased. Anorectal manometry showed that the threshold volume and the urgency volume were not significantly decreased but the maximal tolerable volume was decreased remarkably. The maximal resting pressure significantly decreased but the maximal squeezing pressure were not. The pudendal nerve electromyograms were not significantly different between the two groups. The patients were divided by based on the anastomosis level. The short anastomosis group showed more impairment in the urgency volume and the maximal resting pressure than that of the long anastomosis group. CONCLUSION: The neorectal volume and the level of anastomosis were important for changes in the anorectal function after a low anterior resecton. Gradual improvement of symptoms resulted from a resected rectal adapted to a neorectal volum.
Humans ; Manometry ; Pudendal Nerve ; Rectal Neoplasms*