BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ischemic colitis includes a wide clinical spectrum ranging from mild to severe forms. This study aimed to determine the factors that are related to the occurrence of severe ischemic colitis. METHODS: This multicenter study was conducted retrospectively in Korea. The patients were divided into mild and severe groups. This study surveyed clinical characteristics, blood tests, endoscopic findings, and imaging studies. RESULTS: In the comparison of comorbidities, the severe group had a higher ratio of chronic kidney disease than the mild group (p=0.001). In the blood test, the severe group had a reduced number of platelets (p=0.018) and a higher C-reactive protein value (p=0.001). The severe group had a higher ratio of involvement of the right colon (p=0.026). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status score of the patients showed that the severe group had higher scores than the mild group (p=0.003). A multivariate analysis showed that chronic kidney disease and high ECOG performance status scores were significant risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: If patients diagnosed with ischemic colitis are also treated for chronic kidney disease or have poor performance status, more attention and early intervention are necessary.
Aged ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis ; Colitis, Ischemic/blood/complications/*pathology ; Colon/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Platelet Count ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic/complications ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; *Severity of Illness Index

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The diagnostic value of PET-CT, in gastric cancer is well known, but the prognostic value of pretreatment PET-CT has not been adequately evaluated. This study aimed to investigate the preoperative prognostic value of PET-CT in gastric cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 107 patients underwent surgical treatment for gastric cancer from April 2007 to December 2010 at Dong-A University Medical Center after confirming the presence of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on preoperative PET-CT. Among these patients, the following subjects were excluded: follow-up loss (13), palliative resection (5), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (1), and unrelated death (1). The remaining 87 patients were included in this study and data were collected by retrospectively reviewing the medical records. The median follow-up duration, defined as the period from operation to last imaging study date, was 34.2+/-14.8 months. FDG uptake values were represented by maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax). In order to assess the correlation between SUVmax and recurrence, Kaplan-Meier's survival analysis with log-rank test and cox proportional hazard model were performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to determine the optimal cutoff value of SUVmax. RESULTS: The result of Kaplan-Meier's survival analysis with log-rank test were significantly different between high SUVmax group and low SUVmax group (p=0.035), the cutoff value of which was 5.6. However, in multivariate analysis with cox proportional hazard model, T-staging, N-staging and SUVmax did not show statistical significance (p=0.190, p=0.307, and p=0.436, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: High SUVmax on PET-CT in gastric cancer can be a useful prognostic factor.
Adult ; Aged ; Area Under Curve ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; ROC Curve ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/mortality/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The diagnostic value of PET-CT, in gastric cancer is well known, but the prognostic value of pretreatment PET-CT has not been adequately evaluated. This study aimed to investigate the preoperative prognostic value of PET-CT in gastric cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 107 patients underwent surgical treatment for gastric cancer from April 2007 to December 2010 at Dong-A University Medical Center after confirming the presence of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on preoperative PET-CT. Among these patients, the following subjects were excluded: follow-up loss (13), palliative resection (5), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (1), and unrelated death (1). The remaining 87 patients were included in this study and data were collected by retrospectively reviewing the medical records. The median follow-up duration, defined as the period from operation to last imaging study date, was 34.2+/-14.8 months. FDG uptake values were represented by maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax). In order to assess the correlation between SUVmax and recurrence, Kaplan-Meier's survival analysis with log-rank test and cox proportional hazard model were performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to determine the optimal cutoff value of SUVmax. RESULTS: The result of Kaplan-Meier's survival analysis with log-rank test were significantly different between high SUVmax group and low SUVmax group (p=0.035), the cutoff value of which was 5.6. However, in multivariate analysis with cox proportional hazard model, T-staging, N-staging and SUVmax did not show statistical significance (p=0.190, p=0.307, and p=0.436, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: High SUVmax on PET-CT in gastric cancer can be a useful prognostic factor.
Adult ; Aged ; Area Under Curve ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; ROC Curve ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/mortality/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder characterized by hamartomatous polyps in the gastrointestinal tract and mucocutaneous melanin pigmentation. Hamartomas are not generally regarded as premalignant, although patients with PJS are at increased risk for common and unusual types of gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal malignancies. However, most of the reported gastrointestinal malignancies have been adenocarcinomas, and few reports of an association of this syndrome with a neuroendocrine tumor (NET) have been published. Moreover, no case of this syndrome with NET has been reported in Korea. Here, we report a 21-year old male with PJS who had a small bowel neuroendocrine carcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hamartoma ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Melanins ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome ; Pigmentation ; Polyps

Although cases of simultaneous esophagus and stomach cancer have been reported sporadically, there are rare reports of successful treatment using chemotherapy. We report a case of synchronous esophageal and gastric cancer successfully treated using docetaxel and cis-diammineedichloro-platinum (CDDP) combination chemotherapy instead of surgery. A 82-years-old man with anorexia and progressive weight loss was diagnosed with synchronous esophageal and gastric cancer by endoscopy. Both cancers were diagnosed as resectable by the preoperative clinical staging. However, surgery was contraindicated because of severe lung dysfunction. Moreover, he actively refused radiotherapy and endoscopic management. Therefore, the patient was given combined chemotherapy with docetaxel (65 mg/m2) and CDDP (60 mg/m2). The esophageal and gastric lesion completely disappeared on endoscopy, and there were no residual tumor cells on endoscopic biopsy after three cycles of chemotherapy. Metastatic lymph nodes also completely disappeared on the CT scan. The patient received a total of ten cycles of chemotherapy, without severe adverse effects. The patient remained asymptomatic for 18 months after discontinuation of the chemotherapy, without evidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis. Surgery or endoscopic treatment of both esophageal and gastric cancers is desirable, but, if medically inoperable, chemotherapy can be alternative treatment option.
Aged, 80 and over ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Cisplatin/therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Esophageal Neoplasms/complications/*drug therapy/pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Stomach Neoplasms/complications/*drug therapy/pathology ; Taxoids/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Symptomatic gastro-intestinal metastasis in lung cancer is extremely rare and only a few case reports have been published. Here, we report a case with lung adenocarcinoma that presented with acute abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting due to duodenum, jejunum, and colon obstruction by the gastro-intestinal metastasis. The patient underwent colonoscopy and the pathologic report was adenocarcinoma. When there are similar histologic findings in both colon and pulmonary lesion, the question is whether both lesions are primary cancer or the colon lesions are metastases from lung cancer. Microscopic examination of a conventional pathologic section was not sufficient to make this determination. Immunohistochemistry was positive for thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) and cytokeratin 7 (CK7), and negative for cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and caudal-related homeobox transcription factor-2 (CDX-2) on colon mucosa specimen. Accordingly, we used immunohistochemical marker for differential diagnosis of primary adenocarcinoma of the lung with gastro-intestinal metastasis.
*Abdominal Pain ; Adenocarcinoma/*diagnosis/pathology ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/*pathology/secondary ; Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratin-20/metabolism ; Keratin-7/metabolism ; Lung Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nuclear Proteins/metabolism ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Transcription Factors/metabolism

The Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (KSGE) developed regulations and a gastrointestinal endoscopy board in 1995. Although the KSGE has acquired many specialists since then, the education and training aims and guidelines were insufficient. Although endoscopic examinations are supervised by a specialist during a GI fellowship, some types of GI endoscopic examinations and treatments are difficult to obtain exposure. Fellows should acquire endoscopic skills through repeated independent endoscopic examinations after a GI fellowship. Thus, the KSGE requires training guidelines for fellowships that allow fellows to perform endoscopic examinations without a supervisor. This document is intended to provide the principles that the Committee of Education and Training of KSGE can use to develop practical guidelines for granting privileges to perform accurate GI endoscopy safely. KSGE will contribute to improving the quality of GI endoscopy by providing guidelines for fellowships and supervisors.
Endoscopy ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Fellowships and Scholarships ; Financing, Organized ; Social Control, Formal ; Specialization

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection usually progresses to chronic hepatitis, with rare cases of spontaneous viral eradication. We present herein four cases involving patients that were initially declared to have failed to respond to treatments, based on the presence of HCV RNA that was still detectable after completion of the standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C with genotype 2. However, the HCV RNA became undetectable, with a delayed response, after discontinuation of therapy. Two of the four patients were diagnosed as treatment failures after extended treatment, and the other two received no further treatment after the standard treatment. All four patients maintained a sustained virological response during the periodic follow-up after delayed viral clearance.
Follow-Up Studies ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; RNA ; Treatment Failure

Glomus tumors originate in modified vascular smooth muscle cells and are most commonly found in the dermis or subcutis but are rarely observed in the stomach. We report three cases of patients who presented with incidental findings of subepithelial tumors in the stomach. One patient showed a positive cushion sign, and the others showed negative cushion signs. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) demonstrated sharply demarcated hypoechoic tumors with internal hyperechoic spots in the fourth layer of the gastric wall and several hypoechoic halos around the tumors. Contrast-enhanced abdominal computerized tomography (CT) showed homogeneous high enhancement of tumors up to the delayed scan, and one case showed calcification in the tumor. For treatment, laparoscopic wedge resections were performed. Histological and immunochemical analysis of the tumor cells were compatible with glomus tumors. These characteristic findings in EUS and CT seem to be useful for the diagnosis of gastric glomus tumors.
Dermis ; Endosonography ; Glomus Tumor ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Stomach

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study is to assess serum procalcitonin (PCT) for early prediction of severe acute pancreatitis compared with multiple scoring systems and biomarkers. METHODS: Forty-four patients with acute pancreatitis confirmed by radiological evidences, laboratory assessments, and clinical manifestation were prospectively enrolled. All blood samples and image studies were obtained within 24 hours of admission. RESULTS: Acute pancreatitis was graded as severe in 19 patients and mild in 25 patients according to the Atlanta criteria. Levels of serum PCT were significantly higher in severe acute pancreatitis (p=0.001). The accuracy of serum PCT as a predicting marker was 77.3%, which was similar to the acute physiology and chronic health examination (APACHE)-II score, worse than the Ranson score (93.2%) and better than the Balthazar CT index (65.9%). The most effective cut-off level of serum PCT was estimated at 1.77 ng/mL (AUC=0.797, 95% CI=0.658-0.935). In comparision to other simple biomarkers, serum PCT had more accurate value (77.3%) than C-reactive protein (68.2%), urea (75.0%) and lactic dehydrogenase (72.7%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that serum PCT has statistical significance in acute severe pancreatitis. Assessment of serum PCT levels and length of hospital stay by simple linear regression analysis revealed effective p-value with low R square level, which could make only possibilty for affection of serum PCT to admission duration (r2=0.127, p=0.021). CONCLUSIONS: Serum PCT was a promising simple biomarker and had similar accuracy of APACHE-II scores as predicting severity of acute pancreatitis.
APACHE ; Acute Disease ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Biological Markers/blood ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis ; Calcitonin/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/blood ; Length of Stay ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatitis/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Protein Precursors/*blood ; *Severity of Illness Index ; Urea/blood