PURPOSE: To identify the prognostic factors related to tumor recurrence and progression in Korean patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected and analyzed for 2412 NMIBC patients from 15 centers who were initially diagnosed after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) from January 2006 to December 2010. Using univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, the prognostic value of each variable was evaluated for the time to first recurrence and progression. RESULTS: With a median follow-up duration of 37 months, 866 patients (35.9%) experienced recurrence, and 137 (5.7%) experienced progression. Patients with recurrence had a median time to the first recurrence of 10 months. Multivariable analysis conducted in all patients revealed that preoperative positive urine cytology (PUC) was independently associated with worse recurrence-free survival [RFS; hazard ratio (HR) 1.56; p<0.001], and progression-free survival (PFS; HR 1.56; p=0.037). In particular, on multivariable analysis conducted for the high-risk group (T1 tumor/high-grade Ta tumor/carcinoma in situ), preoperative PUC was an independent predictor of worse RFS (HR 1.73; p<0.001) and PFS (HR 1.96; p=0.006). On multivariable analysis in patients with T1 high-grade (T1HG) cancer (n=684), better RFS (HR 0.75; p=0.033) and PFS (HR 0.33; p<0.001) were observed in association with the administration of intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) induction therapy. CONCLUSION: A preoperative PUC result may adversely affect RFS and PFS, particularly in high-risk NMIBC patients. Of particular note, intravesical BCG induction therapy should be administered as an adjunct to TURBT in order to improve RFS and PFS in patients with T1HG cancer.
Aged ; Carcinoma in Situ/*mortality/*pathology/therapy ; Disease Progression ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/*mortality/*pathology ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/*mortality/*pathology/therapy

Granular corneal dystrophy, type II (CGD2; Avellino corneal dystrophy) is the most common corneal dystrophy among Koreans, but its pathophysiology is still poorly understood. Many reports showed that even though the causative mutation is the same TGFBI R124H mutation, there are severe and mild phenotypes of the corneal dystrophy. We also observed the phenotype differences in our samples. For this reason, we focused our effort on the identification of unknown genetic factor related to phenotype variation. A total 551 individuals from 59 families were genotyped with SNP chip and used in genome-wide linkage analysis. From single-point linkage analyses, we confirmed the known 5q31 region for TGFBI gene, and selected novel nine candidate loci for CGD2. In simulation analysis, the only 3q26.3 region including neuroligin 1 gene (NLGN1) was supported by empirical statistic significance. To investigate the effect of genetic heterogeneity in linkage analysis, we classified CGD2 families into two subgroups. Although we could not find a significant evidence for correlation between the 3q26.3 region and CGD2 phenotypes, this first genome-wide analysis with CGD2 families in Korea has a very important value for offering insights in genetics of CGD2. In addition, the co-segregating loci with CGD2 including 3q26.3 would be a good target for further study to understand the pathophysiology of CGD2.
Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal/genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3/*genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5/*genetics ; Computer Simulation ; Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary/*genetics ; Female ; Genetic Linkage ; *Genetic Loci ; *Genome-Wide Association Study ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1/genetics

A 28-yr-old woman presented with both hip pain that started sequentially during the peripartum period. Diagnosis of transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) was made based on typical findings of plain radiographs and magnetic resonance images. The subchondral trabeculae of the femoral head were evaluated on serially taken coronal multiplanar reformation computerized tomogram images. At 4 weeks after pain onset, marked decrease in the sclerotic density with irregular discontinuation was observed in the primary compression trabeculae. At 12 weeks, a focal area of irregular thickening of trabeculae was observed. At 20 weeks, sclerotic density of trabeculae recovered markedly and the focal area of irregular trabecular thickening disappeared. At 1 yr, subchondral trabeculae recovered almost completely. The evidence of subchondral trabecular injury was observed in the femoral heads of TOH.
Adult ; Female ; Femur Head/*injuries/radionuclide imaging ; Humans ; Osteoporosis/*diagnosis/radiography ; Pregnancy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Cotyloplasty is a technique that involves making a perforation of the medial wall of a shallow acetabulum and then inserting an acetabular cup with the medial aspect of its dome beyond the Kohler line. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of cementless total hip arthroplasty (THA) using cotyloplasty with focusing on the amount of medial cup protrusion. METHODS: Sixteen hips with insufficient acetabulum in sixteen patients were treated by cementless THA using cotyloplasty. The average patient age was 47 years. The diagnoses included dysplastic hip (12) and infection sequelae (4). All the patients were followed up for at least 2 years. Clinically, the Harris hip scores were assessed and radiologically, the amount of cup protrusion, the hip center movement and cup fixation were evaluated. RESULTS: The average Harris hip score improved from 57 to 94 postoperatively. The average proportion of cup surface beyond the Kohler line was 44.1% and the hip centers were medialized by an average of 23 mm. Stable fixation of the acetabular cup was achieved in all the cases except one. In this one case, migration of the cup was detected 2 weeks postoperatively and a reoperation was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Using cotyloplasty, good coverage of the acetabular cup was obtained without a block bone graft, and the hip joint centers were medialized. However, the safety margin for the amount of protrusion should be established.
Acetabulum/*pathology/radiography/*surgery ; Adult ; Arthritis, Infectious/complications/pathology ; *Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Female ; Hip Dislocation, Congenital/pathology/surgery ; Hip Joint/radiography ; *Hip Prosthesis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

In the present study, the anti-cancer effects of ginseng fermented with Phellinus linteus (GFPL) extract were examined through in vitro and in vivo assays. GFPL was produced by co-cultivating ginseng and Phellinus linteus together. Ginsenoside Rg3, Rh1 and Rh2 are important mediators of anti-angiogenesis and their levels in GFPL were enriched 24, 19 and 16 times, respectively, more than that of ginseng itself through the fermentation. GFPL exhibited distinct anti-cancer effects, including growth inhibition of the human lung carcinoma cell line A549, and promotion of immune activation by stimulating nitric oxide (NO) production in Raw 264.7 cells. Further evidence supporting anti-cancer effects of GFPL was its significant prolongment of the survival of B16F10 cancer cell-implanted mice. These results suggest that the GFPL may be a candidate for cancer prevention and treatment through immune activation and anti-angiogenic effects by enriching Rg3, Rh1 and Rh2.
Animals ; Cell Line ; Fermentation ; Ginsenosides ; Humans ; Lung ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide ; Panax

PURPOSE: A multi-subunit transcription factor NF-kappaB mediates the antiapoptotic signals in several cancer cell lines and it is activated in a broad range of human tumors. In this study, we investigated whether the expression levels of the NF-kappaB and the apoptosis inducing genes were related to the pathogenesis and clinical properties of human bladder tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expressions of NF-kappaB, BCL2-associated X protein (BAX), BCL2-associated death protein (BAD) and BH3-interacting domain death agonist protein (BID) were investigated by performing immunohistochemical staining on 133 archival bladder tissue paraffin blocks; these blocks included 122 transitional cell carcinomas of the urinary bladder and 11 normal bladder mucosae. RESULTS: The expression levels of NF-kappaB were significantly higher in the bladder tumors than those of the normal bladder mucosae (p=0.001). The expression levels of BAX in the superficial and low-grade (grade 1 and 2) bladder tumors were significantly enhanced more than those of the high-grade and invasive cases (p=0.042 and p=0.045, respectively), while the expression levels of BAD in the tumor tissues and low-grade tumors were significantly elevated compared with those of the normal mucosae and high grade tumor (p=0.007 and p=0.048, respectively). But the expressions of BID were not correlated with any pathologic and clinical properties. CONCLUSIONS: The expressions of the NF-kappaB and apoptosis inducing genes such as BAX and BAD are strongly associated with the pathogenesis and clinical properties of bladder tumor. (Korean J Urol 2007;48:483-488)
Apoptosis* ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Cell Line ; Humans ; Mucous Membrane ; NF-kappa B* ; Paraffin ; Transcription Factors ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

In the present study, in order to investigate the anti-proliferative phenomenon of PLME, the effects of mycelial extract of Phellinus linteus (PLME) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549 was examined. We studied on the effects of PLME on the release of nitric oxide (NO) in mouse macrophage Raw 264.7 cells. Treatment of PLME to A549 cells resulted in the growth inhibition, morphological change and induction of apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay. We found that PLME stimulated a dose-dependent increase in NO production. These findings suggest that PLME enhances the anti-tumoral activity of macrophage and may be a potential therapeutic agent for the control of human lung carcinoma cells.
Animals ; Cell Death* ; Cell Line ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Macrophages* ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide*

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to characterize the morphology of the mucinous layer on rabbit, bovine, owl, and human corneal endothelial cells. METHODS: Corneoscleral buttons were fixed using cetylpyridinium chloride to stabilize "mucus" and the tissue was prepared for transmission electron microscopy. Photomicrographs were measured to determine the thickness of the endothelial and epithelial mucinous layer in the central cornea. RESULTS: The endothelial mucinous layer was seen as a nearly uniform electrodense region on the apical aspect of the endothelium. It was found to be 0.9 microm, 0.9 microm, 0.9 microm, and 0.5 microm thick in rabbit, bovine, owl, and human, respectively. The owl endothelium had an additional less electrodense layer with a granular appearance and a thickness of about 200 microm. The mucinous layer on the epithelium was similar in appearance to that on the endothelium and across species. CONCLUSIONS: The morphologic similarity of the endothelial and epithelial mucinous layers is a serendipitous finding that should prove valuable in experimental design. Ultimately, it is hoped that studies of the posterior corneal surface will deepen our knowledge of endothelial protection.
Adult ; Animal ; Cytokines/pharmacology ; Endothelium, Corneal/ultrastructure ; Endothelium, Corneal/metabolism* ; Endothelium, Corneal/cytology ; Human ; Microscopy, Electron ; Mucins/ultrastructure ; Mucins/metabolism* ; Owls ; Rabbits ; Staining and Labeling

Pulmonary lymphangiomatosis is a very rare pulmonary lesion with an aggressive potential that occurs mainly in newborns, infants and young children of both sexes. It is characterized by pulmonary abnormalities of lymphatic system, showing an increased number of complex anastomosing lymphatic channels in the pleura, in the subpleural interlobular septa, and along the bronchovascular lymphatic route and uniformly fatal. We report a case of lymphangiomatosis behaving like lymphangioleiomyomatosis in a 26-year-old woman.
Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Lymphangioleiomyomatosis ; Lymphatic System ; Pleura

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine subgoups of functional dyspesia and to evaluate the short-term effect of cisapride in patients with functional dyspepsia in Korea. METHODS: 1025 patients, with a mean age of 42.6 years, with symptoms of functional dyspepsia, were recruited consecutively and upper gastrointestinal symptoms were investigated by interview in 41 hospitals in Korea. In an open, multicenter trial, 1025 patients received Smg of cisapride three times a day (TID) for at least .2 weeks for the treatment of symptoms of functional dyspepsia. When necessary, the dose of cisapride was increased to 10mg TID and the duration of therapy was extended to 4 weeks. RESULTS: The most frequently reported symptoms of functional dyspepsia were epigastric discomfort or fullness (85%), bloating (70%), belching (53%), early satiety (52%) and epigastric pain (46%) retrospectively. Subgroups of functional dyspepsia were as follows; dysmotility-like 73.5%, ulcer-like 39.7%, reflux-like 13.0%, and unspecified dyspepsia 14.0%. However, 33.2% of subjects with functional dyspepsia could be classified into more than one subgroup. Upper gastrointestinal symptoms were decreased to average 50.3% (range; 42.2 to 59.2%) after 2 weeks of cisapride treatment and to 25% (19.2 to 29.9%) after 4 weeks. cisapride therapy resulted in good or excellent improvement in 59.0% of the patients after two weeks, in 75% of patients after 4 weeks. Adverse events were occurred in 52 patients (5.8% of all patients), most commonly, loose stools or diarrhea (3.5%), abdominal pain (1.1%), and dizziness (0.3%). The majority of adverse events was mild and transient in nature and led to premature discontinuation of treatment in 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Although the majorities of patients with functional dyspepsia have dysmotility like symptoms in Korea, there is such overlap among the dyspepsia subgroups. Most patients responded well to a short therapeutic trial with cisapride without significant side effects.
Abdominal Pain ; Cisapride* ; Diarrhea ; Dizziness ; Dyspepsia* ; Eructation ; Humans ; Korea* ; Retrospective Studies