Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a common benign bone disorder of an unclear etiology. It is known that FD can appear without an increased FDG uptake on F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT). However, there are also several reports that FD showed increased FDG uptake and this mimicked malignant bone involvement on FDG-PET. Herein we describe a case of biopsy-proven FDG-PET positive FD in a patient with intestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A 45-year-old woman was diagnosed with intestinal NHL, which was removed by right hemicolectomy. After the operation, the FDG-PET/CT scan showed hypermetabolic activity in the right transverse process of the T10 vertebra. The patient then received a total of 6 cycles of R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone) chemotherapy every 3 weeks. After completion of the planned chemotherapy, the 2nd FDG-PET/CT showed increased FDG uptake (SUVmax=6.0 g/mL) of the previous bone lesion. The MR images revealed a T1-hypointense lesion with sharp borders in the same region, and this showed homogenous contrast enhancement on the fat-suppressed T1-weighted images. After the radiologic studies were carefully reviewed, the bone lesion was assumed to be benign such as FD. We performed bone biopsy and the histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of FD. In conclusion, bone lesions with FDG uptake need to be carefully interpreted when evaluating patients with known malignancy.
Biopsy ; Cyclophosphamide ; Doxorubicin ; Electrons ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Middle Aged ; Spine ; Vincristine

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is an essential process for the growth and metastatic ability of solid tumors. One of the key factors known to be capable of stimulating tumor angiogenesis is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The serum VEGF concentration has been shown to be a the malignant pleural effusion showing a correlation with the biochemical parameters. The VEGF has been shown to play a role in the inflammatory diseases, but rarely in the tuberculosis (TB). The serum and pleural fluid VEGF levels were measured in patients with lung cancer and TB. Their relationship with the clinical and laboratory parameters and repeated measurement 3 months after various anticancer treatments were evaluated to assess the utility of the VEGF as a tumor marker. METHODS: Using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the VEGF concentration was measured in both sera and pleural effusions collected from a total of 85 patients with lung cancer, 13 patients with TB and 20 healthy individuals. RESULTS: The serum VEGF levels in patients with lung cancer (619.9±722.8ph/ml) were significantly higher than those of healthy controls (215.9±191.1pg/ml), However, there was no significant difference between the VEGF levels in the lung cancer and TB patients. The serum VEGF levels were higher in large cell and undifferentiated carcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The serum VEGF levels of lung cancer patients revealed no significant relationship with the various clinical parameters. The VEGF concentrations in the malignant effusion (2,228.1±2,103.0pg/ml) were significantly higher than those in the TB effusion (897.6±978.8pg/ml). In the malignant pleural effusion, the VEGF levels revealed significant correlation with the number of red blood cells (r=0.75), the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)(r=0.70), and glucose concentration (r=-0.55) in the pleural fluid. CONCLUSION: The serum VEGF levels were higher in the lung cancer patients. The VEGF levels were more elevated in the malignant pleural effusion than in the tuberculous effusion. In addition, the VEGF levels in the pleural fluid were several times higher than the matched serum values suggesting a local activation and possible etiologic role of VEGF in the formation of malignant effusions. The pleural VEGF levels showed a significant correlation with the numbers of red blood cells, LDH and glucose concentrations in the pleural fluid, which may represent the tumor burden.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Erythrocytes ; Glucose ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pleural* ; Tumor Burden ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

PURPOSE: The needs of stem cell transplantation are increasing in Korea under the circumstance of medical insurance coverage since 1996. But allogeneic bone marrow transplants have the limitation in acquisition of matched donor because of small number of siblings in modern society. Although unrelated stem cell transplantations were made possible in Korea with the establishment of Korean Marrow Donor Program, less than one third of patients who need stem cell transplantation are seeking the matched donors through this program and it still takes too much time and efforts. In this clinical setting, cord blood offers an exciting alternative to traditional sources of stem cells. To implement the widespread clinical use of cord blood stem cells, it is necessary to establish the cord blood bank from which stem cell specimens are obtained. METHODS: To establish the cord blood bank in Korea, we started to develop the proper methods to obtain the cord bloods. Various ways of collecting the cord bloods, separation of red blood cells and storage methods were tried and the standard recommendations were made. RESULTS: Mean volume of collected umbilical cord blood was above 70mL by open or closed method in vaginal delivery and cesarean section. Among the RBC depletion methods by using 3% gelatin, Ficoll-Hypaque, or modified Ficoll-Hypaque method, 3% gelatin sedimentation showed the best result in viability and number of mononuclear cells(MNC), CD34+ cell, and day 14 CFU-GM. The recovery rate after freezing-thawing MNC was higher in the group of using 10% DMSO and programmed freezer starting from 4degrees C than in the group of using mixed with DMSO and hydroxyethyl starch and without programmed freezer. Nine patients underwent cord blood transplantation until December 1998. Among them, 6 patients showed the long-term successful engraftment. CONCLUSION: We have developed simple, efficient, and reproducible methods for collection, processing, and storage of cord blood to establish the cord blood bank. There are some administrative issues including the legal and financial problems that possibly will be resolved by the support of the government and the medical team.
Bone Marrow ; Cesarean Section ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Fetal Blood* ; Gelatin ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Progenitor Cells ; Humans ; Insurance Coverage ; Korea* ; Pregnancy ; Siblings ; Starch ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Stem Cells* ; Tissue Donors

We report a case of malignant histiocytosis which began with intermittent fever and scaly skin lesions. A 3-year-old girl presented with erythematous scaly papules on the face and the trunk, and high fever for 3 months. The cutaneous lesions consisted of widespread coin-sized erythematous scaly papules with marginal brownish pigmentation. She was anemic and thrombocytopenic and had impairment of the liver function. Histopathologic study of the skin lesions showed non-specfic findings except for hyperkeratosis. However, bone marrow examination revealed an increased number of histiocytes, mostly immature with active phagocytosis of erythroid cells, myeloid cells, and platelets. She was diagnosed as having malignant histiocytosis and treated with cyclophosphamide and vincristine. She died the next day after the treatment had begun.
Bone Marrow Examination ; Child, Preschool ; Cyclophosphamide ; Erythroid Cells ; Female ; Fever* ; Histiocytes ; Histiocytic Sarcoma* ; Humans ; Liver ; Myeloid Cells ; Phagocytosis ; Pigmentation ; Skin* ; Vincristine

A clinicostatistical analysis of 683 males with infertility who visited the Pusan National University Hospital between January 1986 and December 1995 was performed. We divided the patients into 5 groups by Shirataki classification as follows, group I, sperm concentration above 20 x 106/ml, group II, oligozoospermia with a sperm concentration above 10 x 100000/ml, but below 20 x 1000000/ml, group III,oligozoospermia with a sperm concentration below 10x 100000/ml, group IV, primary azoospermia, group V, obstructive azoospermia. The mean age was 33.1 years. The mean duration of infertility was 48.2 months. The frequency in each groups were group IV 383 cases (56.1%), group III 127 cases (18.6%), group I 111 cases (16.3%), group II 37 cases (5.4%), and group V 25 cases (3.7%), respectively. Except group V, as decreasing the sperm density, testicular volume tended to reduce (p<0.01). The semen volume in group V was significantly less than that in other groups (p<0.05). As sperm density decreased, the sperm motility tended to reduce (p<0.05). The levels of serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) in group IV were significantly the higher than other groups (p<0.05). As for serum prolactin and testosterone, there were no significant differences between each 5 group. Of etiologic factors of male infertility, idiopathic was the most common cause with 489 cases (71. 6%), and followed by varicocele 71 cases (10.4%), seminal tract obstruction 44 cases (6.4%), chromosome abnormality 30 cases (4.4%), infection 20 cases (2.9%), testicular trauma 13 cases (1.9%), cryptorchidism 10 cases (1.5%), hyperprolactinemia 4 cases (0.6%) and retrograde ejaculation 2 cases (0.3%). A total of 391 cases had a management for male infertility which consisted of medical treatments 291 cases (74.4%), surgical treatments 89 cases (22.8%) and assisted reproductive technologies 11 cases (2.8%). In conclusion, We think the more clear clarification of physiology of male reproductive system, the development of new drugs for the improvement of spermatogenesis and the application of advanced assisted reproductive technique would be needed to handle properly the patients with male infertility.
Azoospermia ; Busan ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Classification ; Cryptorchidism ; Ejaculation ; Humans ; Hyperprolactinemia ; Infertility ; Infertility, Male* ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Male ; Male* ; Oligospermia ; Physiology ; Prolactin ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Semen ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatogenesis ; Spermatozoa ; Testosterone ; Varicocele

No abstract available.
Erythema* ; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Juvenile*

Screening for prostate cancer was performed to estimate the incidence of prostate cancers and to detect early prostate cancers in the Korean population. 501 volunteers who were older than 50, not within the urological practice and from the general population of Pusan city were screened from March 1993 to October 1994. The screening methods used were I-PSS, prostate specific antigen (PSA), digital rectal examination (DRE), transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS), and uroflow with or without transrectal systematic biopsy of prostate. Biopsy was recommended in cases of PSA greater than 4 ng/ml or suspicious nodule on DRE or lesion on TRUS or when more than two of these findings were discovered. 443 participants satisfied the criteria for data analysis. The biopsy rate was 47.7%. Prostate cancer was found in eight, yielding a detection rate of 1.8%. Five of these eight cases were localized cancers. These findings suggest that screening for prostate adenocarcinoma on Koreans is efficient and necessary to detect cancers in the early stages. Apparently the detection rate of prostate cancer in Korean population is not low as previously expected.
Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy ; Busan ; Digital Rectal Examination ; Incidence ; Mass Screening* ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms* ; Statistics as Topic ; Ultrasonography ; Volunteers

The complications and the patients' attitude after transrectal systematic sextant biopsy of the prostate were evaluated by the questionnaire retrospectively. One hundred and sixty one of 211 men over 50 years old responded to the questionnaire. Transrectal sextant biopsy of the prostate under the finger guidance was performed by two doctors using Biopty Gun. The first 85 men (group A) received glycerin enema and oral administration of norfloxacin 30 minutes before the biopsy and norfloxacin was administered once again two to three hours after the biopsy. The other 126 men (group B) received the same procedures but the enema was performed using mixture of glycerin & betadine solution and the norfloxacin was administered 30 minutes before and for 3 days after the biopsy. Benign prostatic hyperplasia was diagnosed pathologically in 190 cases(90.1%) and prostate cancer in 8 cases(3.8%). No complication was less found in group A(23.4%) than in group B(40.5%)(P<0.05). Reported complications were perineal tenderness (group A: 42.9%,group B: 31.0%), hematuria (group A: 32.5%, group B: 34.5%), hemospermia (group A: 29.99%, group B: 19.0%), rectal bleeding (group A: 11.7%, group B: 11.9%), fever (group A: 15.69%, group B: 6.0%) and scrotal tenderness (group A: 2.6%, group B: 3.6%). In group A sepsis was developed in one case. Perineal tenderness lasted for 6.7 days in group A 5.1 days in group B. Hematuria was observed for 9.7 days in group A, 7.5 days in group B. Hemospermia was seen for 28.1 days in group A, 13.7 days in group B. Average duration of complications was shorter in group B (P<0.05). The better they understand the procedure of the biopsy, the less pain and the more satisfaction they experience. the rate of failure in obtaining tissue cores was 6.2%. If the doctor experiences more than about 120 cores of the tissue, the learning curve of success rate to obtain the proper specimens arrives to its plateau. In conclusion, the incidence of complications may be decreased by using appropriate pretreatment, especially adequate amount of antibiotics. Patient education is one of the most important steps to reduce the complications of this invasive technique.
Administration, Oral ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Biopsy* ; Enema ; Fever ; Fingers* ; Glycerol ; Hematuria ; Hemorrhage ; Hemospermia ; Humans ; Incidence ; Learning Curve ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Norfloxacin ; Patient Education as Topic ; Povidone-Iodine ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis

Most patients of urethral stricture can be cured by urethral dilatation or visual internal urethrotomy. But, it is necessary to perform accurate surgical urethroplasty in complex urethral stricture such as extensive or multiple urethral strictures, urethrocutaneous fistula, urethral diverticulum, periurethral scar and chronic inflammation. Usually urethroplasty can be performed in one-stage, using standard end-to-end urethral anastomosis or full thickness skin graft or vascularized skin flap urethroplasty. But, in high risk cases, sometimes, two-stage scrotal inlay operation is adopted. We report 3 successful results with urethroplasty using vascularized penile dorsal skin flap which was made from rectangularily designed penile dorsal skin with longitudinal incision, one was inflammatory posterior urethral stricture associated with traumatic urethrocutaneous fistula the other was extensive and multiple inflammatory bulbous urethral stricture and another was intractable penile urethral stricture; totally in 3 cases.
Cicatrix ; Dilatation ; Diverticulum ; Fistula ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Inlays ; Skin* ; Transplants ; Urethral Stricture*

We analyzed testicular biopsies in eighty five infertile men with seventy eight azoospermia and seven severe oligospermia (< 1000000/ml) at our hospital from January 1989 to July 1993. The testicular volume was average 15.7ml (10 to 20ml). The most frequent histopathological finding was Sertoli cell only syndrome with 25 cases (29.4%). The second prevalent finding was sloughing and disorganization of germ cells with 22 cases (25.9%) and followed by maturation arrest with 19 cases (22.4%) and hypospermatogenesis with 19 cases (22.4%), in order. In the Sertoli cell only syndrome, sloughing and disorganization of germ cells and maturation arrest, nearly all showed azoospermia in the sperm count comparing to the hypospermatogenesis. Leydig cell abnormalities were hyperplasia in 32 cases (37.6%) and hypoplasia in 4 cases (4.7%). On the aspect of feedback, in Sertoli cell only syndrome and maturation arrest, serum FSH was increased in 21 cases (84.0%) and 7 cases (36.8%), respectively, but in the majority of sloughing and disorganization of germ cells and hypospermatogenesis, not increased. Plasma LH, prolactin, testosterone and estradiol were not correlated with germ cell morphology. Therefore, the testicular biopsy is especially important for aid in the diagnosis and prognosis in the infertile men, and further more to evaluate the testicular paracrinology.
Azoospermia ; Biopsy* ; Diagnosis ; Estradiol ; Germ Cells ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Infertility ; Male ; Oligospermia ; Plasma ; Prognosis ; Prolactin ; Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome ; Sperm Count ; Testosterone