Prophylactic para-aortic lymphadenectomy is not recommended in curable advanced gastric cancer. However, there are few reports on therapeutic para-aortic lymphadenectomy after palliative chemotherapy in far advanced gastric cancer. We report three cases of laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy with para-aortic lymphadenectomy after palliative chemotherapy for the first time in Korea. Three gastric cancer patients with isolated para-aortic lymph node (PAN) metastasis showed partial response to capecitabine-based chemotherapy, and laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy with para-aortic lymphadenectomy was performed with curative intent. The mean total operation time was 365 minutes (range, 310 to 415 minutes), and the mean estimated blood loss was 158 mL (range, 125 to 200 mL). The mean number of retrieved PAN was 9 (range, 8 to 11), and all pathologic results showed no metastasis of para-aortic region. All patients recovered and were discharged without any significant complications.
Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Stomach Neoplasms

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Biliary cystadenoma (BCA) and cystadenocarcinoma (BCCA) are rare cystic hepatic neoplasms. Prior reports concerning the proper surgical treatment and long-term survival are scarce. We report our experience and survival outcome of 30 patients over the last 25 years. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathologic data of the pathologically confirmed 18 BCA and 12 BCCA patients, who underwent operations from 1983 to 2006, at the Seoul National University Hospital. RESULTS: The patients consisted of 8 men and 22 women with a mean age of 51 years. With abdominal computed tomography scans, 73.3% (n=22) were preoperatively diagnosed as BCA or BCCA, and differentiating BCCA from BCA was accurate in 58.3% patients. R0 resection was achieved in 90% (n=27). The differentiating factors included the presence of mural nodule (4/18 vs. 8/12; p=0.009) and mucinous content (2/9 vs. 8/1; p=0.005), and tumor size tending to be larger in BCCA (11.7 cm vs. 7.9 cm; p=0.067). Overall 5-year and 10-year survival rates of BCCA were 72.9% and 60.9%, respectively. Of patients with BCCA, 4 experienced recurrence. In case of recurrence, patients tended to be younger than 50 years (p=0.061) and the lesions tended to be larger than those without recurrence (p=0.088). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative differentiations of BCA from simple cyst, and BCCA from BCA are still difficult. Complete removal of the tumor, via major hepatectomy, should be considered, especially in the younger age group with large tumor.
Biliary Tract ; Cystadenocarcinoma ; Cystadenoma ; Female ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; Male ; Mucins ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Hepatic resection has only guaranteed long-term survival in patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) even in the era of effective chemotherapy. The definite role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) is to improve outcomes of unresectable CRLMs, but it its role has not been defined for initially resectable CRLMs (IR-CRLMs). METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 226 patients, who had been diagnosed and treated for IR-CRLM between 2003 and 2008; the patients had the following pathologies: 10% had more than 4 nodules, 11% had tumors larger than 5 cm, and 61% had synchronous CRMLs. Among these patients, 20 patients (Group Y) were treated with NCT, and 206 (Group N) did not receive NCT according to their physician's preference. The median follow-up time was 34.1 months. RESULTS: The initial surgical plans were changed after NCT to further resection in 20% and to limited resection in 10% of 20 patients. Complication rates of Groups Y (30%) were indifferent from Group N (23%) (p=0.233), but intraoperative transfusions were more frequent in Group N (15%) than in Group Y (5%) (p=0.006). There was one case of hospital mortality (0.44%). Disease-free survival rates in Groups Y and N were 23% and 39%, respectively, and patient survival rates were 42% and 66% (p>0.05). By multivariate analysis, old age (> or =60 years), differentiation of primary tumor (poorly/mucinous), resection margin involvement, and no adjuvant chemotherapy were associated with poor patient survival; the number of CRLMs (> or =4) was associated with poor disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: NCT had neither a positive impact nor a negative impact on survival, even with intraoperative transfusion, as observed on operative outcomes for patients with IR-CRLM. Further study is required to elucidate the role of NCT for treatment of patient with IR-CRLMs.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Liver ; Medical Records ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The present study was conducted to investigate the low compliance rate of the critical pathway (CP) and whether CP is effective for treatment of gastric cancer in radical gastrectomy. METHODS: The medical records of 631 patients who had undergone radical gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection were reviewed. This study compared data from patients in early gastric cancer (EGC) and advanced gastric cancer (AGC) groups, which were further subdivided into general care (non-CP) and CP groups. RESULTS: The mean length of preoperative hospital stays were significantly different between the EGC and AGC patients (P < 0.05). However, there was no difference in the mean length of postoperative hospital stays between non-CP and CP groups among either EGC patients or AGC patients (P > 0.05). The postoperative and total cost of hospitalization was not statistically different between either of the groups (P > 0.05); however, the mean preoperative costs were significantly different (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: We conclude that use of the CP following gastrectomy is unnecessary. To decrease the length of hospital stay and associated costs, preoperative examination and consultation should be performed before admission.
Compliance ; Critical Pathways ; Gastrectomy ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Lymph Node Excision ; Medical Records ; Stomach Neoplasms

In previous decades, pediatric liver transplantation has become a state-of-the-art operation with excellent success and limited mortality. Graft and patient survival have continued to improve as a result of proper selection criteria for both donors and recipients, improvement in medical, surgical and anesthetic management, organ availability, balanced immunosuppression, and early identification and treatment of postoperative complications. Most of all, refinements of the technique has directly related to good outcome. Therefore rapid establishment of surgical knowhow is mandatory. In pediatric liver transplantation, the utilization of split-liver grafts and grafts for living donors has provided more organs for pediatric patients and has had a significant impact on graft and patient survival. This has been one of the brilliant outcomes of surgical evolution. In addition, new surgical technique of minimal invasive live donor surgery has been recently widening the living donor liver transplantation for children. Although the recent outcome has been rapidly improved and the volume of living donor liver transplantation has been larger and larger in Korea, pediatric liver transplantation has been performed in a very limited large volume centers. Therefore, this review focuses on surgical technique in order to share the experiences and to improve the outcome of pediatric liver transplantation.
Child ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; Korea ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Living Donors ; Patient Selection ; Postoperative Complications ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine proportions of upper third gastric cancer (UTG) among all gastric cancers and analyze clinicopathological features of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 12,300 patients who underwent gastric surgery between 1986 and 2006 at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) were retrospectively reviewed. Clinicopathological features of 1,260 patients with UTG and 9,929 patients with middle or lower third gastric cancer (MLG) were compared, and annual proportions of UTG were evaluated. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with UTG rapidly increased from 2.6% in 1986 to 12.5% in 1992. However, linear regression analysis showed that the rate of increase was reduced (0.21%/year) after 1992 (12.5% to 14.2% from 1992 to 2006). Compared with the MLG group, the UTG group had a lower proportion of (22.3% vs. 39.7%, P<0.001) and a greater proportion of stage III/IV disease (39.4% vs. 31.7%, P<0.001). The UTG group also had larger tumors than the MLG group in stages I/II and III (3.5 cm/5.3 cm/6.5 cm vs. 3.2 cm/5.0 cm/5.8 cm, P=0.020/0.028 /<0.001), a higher proportion of undifferentiated cancer (63.1% vs. 53.7%, P<0.001), and less intestinal Lauren's type (38.8% vs. 47.4%, P<0.001). The 5-year survival rate of the UTG group was significantly lower than that of the MLG group in stages I/II and III (85.6%/63.1%/34.2% vs. 91.6%/ 69.2%/44.7%, P<0.001/0.028/0.006). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of UTGs has increased over the last two decades at SNUH, but the rate of increase has been greatly reduced since 1992. The UTG group showed a poorer prognosis compared with the MLG group in stages I/II and III.
Gastric Fundus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Linear Models ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine proportions of upper third gastric cancer (UTG) among all gastric cancers and analyze clinicopathological features of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 12,300 patients who underwent gastric surgery between 1986 and 2006 at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) were retrospectively reviewed. Clinicopathological features of 1,260 patients with UTG and 9,929 patients with middle or lower third gastric cancer (MLG) were compared, and annual proportions of UTG were evaluated. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with UTG rapidly increased from 2.6% in 1986 to 12.5% in 1992. However, linear regression analysis showed that the rate of increase was reduced (0.21%/year) after 1992 (12.5% to 14.2% from 1992 to 2006). Compared with the MLG group, the UTG group had a lower proportion of (22.3% vs. 39.7%, P<0.001) and a greater proportion of stage III/IV disease (39.4% vs. 31.7%, P<0.001). The UTG group also had larger tumors than the MLG group in stages I/II and III (3.5 cm/5.3 cm/6.5 cm vs. 3.2 cm/5.0 cm/5.8 cm, P=0.020/0.028 /<0.001), a higher proportion of undifferentiated cancer (63.1% vs. 53.7%, P<0.001), and less intestinal Lauren's type (38.8% vs. 47.4%, P<0.001). The 5-year survival rate of the UTG group was significantly lower than that of the MLG group in stages I/II and III (85.6%/63.1%/34.2% vs. 91.6%/ 69.2%/44.7%, P<0.001/0.028/0.006). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of UTGs has increased over the last two decades at SNUH, but the rate of increase has been greatly reduced since 1992. The UTG group showed a poorer prognosis compared with the MLG group in stages I/II and III.
Gastric Fundus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Linear Models ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Survival Rate

The clinical usefulness of organ-preserving pancreatectomy is not well established due to technical difficulty and ambiguity of functional merit. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of organ-preserving pancreatectomy such as duodenum-preserving resection of the head of the pancreas (DPRHP), pancreatic head resection with segmental duodenectomy (PHRSD), central pancreatectomy (CP) and spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (SPDP). Between 1995 and 2007, the DPRHP were performed in 14 patients, the PHRSD in 16 patients, the CP in 13 patients, and the SPDP in 45 patients for preoperatively diagnosed benign lesions or tumors with low-grade malignant potential. The clinical outcomes including surgical details, postoperative complications and long-term functional outcomes were compared between organ-preserving pancreatectomy and conventional pancreatectomy group. Major postoperative complications constituted the following: bile duct stricture (7.1% [1/14]) in DPRHP, delayed gastric emptying (31.2% [5/16]) in PHRSD, pancreatic fistula (21.4% [3/14]) in CP. There were no significant differences in postoperative complications and long-term functional outcomes between two groups. Organ-preserving pancreatectomy is associated with tolerable postoperative complications, and good long-term outcome comparing to conventional pancreatectomy. Organ-preserving pancreatectomy could be alternative treatment for benign or low-grade malignant potential lesion of the pancreas or ampullary/parapapillary duodenum.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnosis/*surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Suture Techniques ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: Mutated p53 is a tumor suppressor gene, hMLH1 is a mismatch repair gene, and hypermethylation of hMLH1 follows microsatellite instability (MSI). This research's aim is to investigate mutated p53, inactivated hMLH1 and MSI in gastric cancer and their clinicopathologic implications. METHODS: Between 2003 and 2007, 618 patients underwent curative radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in Korea. We reviewed their medical charts and the pathologic reports with immunohistochemistry for p53, hMLH1 and polymerase chain reaction for MSI in 509, 499, and 561 cases, respectively. These genetic markers were statistically compared with clinicopathologic features and postoperative survival. RESULTS: The expression ratios of mutated p53, inactivated hMLH1, and MSI were 32.8%, 8.4%, and 8.7%, respectively. Mutation of p53 occurred more frequently in aged group (over 40), differentiated group (against the non-differentiated group), intestinal type, infiltrative type and positive lymph node metastasis group. Inactivated hMLH1 occurred more frequently in aged group, differentiated group, intestinal type and expanding growth type group. MSI was found more frequently in aged group, intestinal type and expanding growth type group. All three genetic markers had no significant associations with the 5-year survival. CONCLUSION: We identified significant relationships between mutated p53, inactivated hMLH1, and MSI with some clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer. However, there were no apparent relationships between p53, hMLH1, and MSI and prognosis.
Aged ; DNA Mismatch Repair ; Gastrectomy ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Microsatellite Instability ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Succinimides

PURPOSE: Graft-Versus-Host Disease (GVHD) is a rare (0.1~2%) but severe complication after liver transplantation (LT). It is the most lethal complication after LT and there are currently no effective preventive or therapeutic measures available. Approximately 90 such cases have been reported in the literature, but only one case has been reported in Korea. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 767 patients who underwent LT (living donor:deceased donor=554:213) at Seoul National University Hospital, Korea from 1998 to 2009. Four patients (4/767, 0.52%) with histologically proven GVHD were found. The diagnosis of GVHD was made according to observing macrochimerism in the peripheral blood and the affected tissue biopsy. RESULTS: Four patients underwent LT due to Hepatitis B virus-related liver cirrhosis and two of these patients had coexisting hepatocellular carcinoma. Three patients received livers from deceased donors and one received a liver from a live donor. All their blood matching were identical. The first diagnosed case underwent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing only after LT and it showed complete one-way donor-recipient HLA matching. The onset of GVHD occurred between 10 days and 55 days after LT. All the patients developed high-grade fever, skin rash, neutropenia, diarrhea and the main signs and symptoms related to GVHD. All the patients died because of sepsis despite intensive treatment. CONCLUSION: GVHD after LT is an extremely rare and fatal complication and it is difficult to diagnose. Therefore, we should perform pre-transplant HLA matching and try to establish an early diagnosis for patients who are clinical suspicious of having GVHD. Further study in this area is needed and physicians need to be alert to detect this malady.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Chimerism ; Diarrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hepatitis B ; Humans ; Korea ; Leukocytes ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Transplantation ; Neutropenia ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Tissue Donors