Dendrobium moniliforme (L.) Sw., an herb of the Orchidaceae family, has long been used in traditional medicine to strengthen bones, nourish the stomach, and promote the production of bodily fluid. Recently, polysaccharides isolated from Dendrobium have been used in functional foods and nutraceutical products. A traditional method to process Dendrobium is to soak fresh stems in an ethanol solution, which is the most important factor to ensure high yields of aqueous-extractable polysaccharides. The present study was carried out to investigate the potential acute toxicity of D. moniliforme aqueous extract (DMAE), by a single oral dose in Sprague-Dawley rats. The test article was orally administered once by gavage to male and female rats at doses of 0, 2,500, and 5,000 mg/kg body weight (n=5 male and female rats for each dose). Throughout the study period, no treatment-related deaths were observed and no adverse effects were noted in clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, serum biochemistry, organ weight, or gross findings at any dose tested. The results show that a single oral administration of DMAE did not induce any toxic effects at a dose below 5,000 mg/kg in rats, and the minimal lethal dose was considered to be over 5,000 mg/kg body weight for both sexes. With respect to cytotoxicity, the cell viability of human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells was less than 50% when the cells were treated with 10 mg/mL aqueous extract for 24 h.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Biochemistry ; Body Weight ; Cell Survival ; Dendrobium* ; Dietary Supplements ; Ethanol ; Female ; Functional Food ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques* ; Kidney ; Male ; Medicine, Traditional ; Methods ; Orchidaceae ; Organ Size ; Polysaccharides ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stomach

PURPOSE: To compare the lamina cribrosa thickness in fellow eyes of patients with unilateral retinal vein occlusion (RVO) with the normal control eyes and the type of RVO. METHODS: This study included 40 patients with unilateral RVO and 45 normal control subjects. We compared the lamina cribrosa thickness between the RVO eyes and the fellow eyes, the fellow eyes and the normal control eyes and the type of RVO eyes. We measured central lamina thickness using enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: In patients with unilateral RVO, central lamina cribrosa thickness was not significantly different between the RVO eyes (211.33 microm) and the fellow eyes (204.13 microm; p = 0.202). However, central lamina cribrosa thickness in the fellow eyes was significantly reduced compared with the normal control eyes (217.76 microm; p = 0.046). Central lamina cribrosa thickness in the fellow eyes according to the type of RVO was not statistically significantly different (p = 0.672). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the central lamina cribrosa thickness in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral RVO was thinner than in normal patients. Therefore, the lamina cribrosa thickness may be associated with RVO as well as glaucoma.
Glaucoma ; Humans ; Retinal Vein Occlusion* ; Retinal Vein* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Tomography, Optical Coherence

Castleman's disease is a rare disorder and thought to occur as a result of chronic antigenic stimulation due to an unknown infectious or inflammatory etiology. It has a heterogenous course: the symptoms persist in some cases for many years and have a progressive fatal course in others. Renal dysfunction in the form of nephrotic syndrome is quite a rare occurrence. Secondary amyloidosis due to Castleman's disease has also been reported in a few case reports. A 46-year-old female who had asymptomatic abdominal lymphadenopathy was diagnosed with Castleman's disease-plasma cell type in our hospital in 2006. Three years after diagnosis, she developed chronic diarrhea, weight loss, anemia and nephrotic range proteinuria. The etiology of symptom was found to be secondary amyloidosis based on renal and gastrointestinal biopsies. She was discharged with steroid therapy. Unfortunately, she had a progressive fatal course. One month after the treatment, she developed thrombocytopenia and died due to cerebral hemorrhage.
Amyloidosis ; Anemia ; Biopsy ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Middle Aged ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; Plasma Cells ; Proteinuria ; Thrombocytopenia ; Weight Loss

Patients with complete tracheal transection present a considerable challenge to the anesthesiologist. A 38 year-old woman with complete tracheal transection above the aortic arch level due to blunt trauma was taken to the operating room for an attempt at tracheal repair. Anesthetic management was focused on the maintenance of the airway and adequate ventilation. Primary repair of the trachea was carried out under ventilation support via percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system. Until the disrupted trachea was exposed on the surgical field, ventilation was performed using a laryngeal mask. We discuss the anesthetic management strategies and the alternative mode of ventilation.
Adult ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Female ; Humans ; Laryngeal Masks ; Operating Rooms ; Trachea ; Ventilation

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recently, living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been frequently performed in Korea because of the limited availability of a cadaveric donor (CD). We evaluated the clinical features of patients with biliary complications after liver transplantation and we compared the incidence of biliary complications according to the type of donor and the anastomotic type of the biliary tract. METHODS: Between May 1996 and July 2004, 300 patients (CDLT 102/LDLT 198) underwent liver transplantation at Samsung Medical Center. The patients who experienced biliary complications during the follow-up period were enrolled to the study and we retrospectively reviewed their cases. RESULTS: Sixty-seven cases (23%) of biliary complications were noticed in 53 patients (18%). The complications consisted of 20 cases (7%) of bile leakage, 38 cases (13%) of biliary strictures, 7 cases (2%) of biliary stones, and 2 cases (1%) of biliary stenosis due to other cause. There was no significant difference on the incidence of complications between CDLT (15/102; 14.7%) and LDLT (38/198; 19.2%) (p=0.42). In addition, there was no significant difference between choledocho-choledochostomy (43/237; 18.1%) and hepatico-jejunostomy (10/ 63; 15.9%)(p=0.85) CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rate of biliary complication after liver transplantation was 23%, and there was no difference according to the type of donor and the anastomotic type of biliary tract.
Adult* ; Bile ; Biliary Tract ; Cadaver ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Living Donors ; Retrospective Studies ; Tissue Donors

Paraovarian cysts arise in the mesosalpinx, between the ovarian hilum and the fallopian tube. Clinical significance of paraovarian tumors is considerably less frequent than ovarian tumors, and malignant paraovarian lesions are exceedingly rare. Paraovarian carcinomas or borderline malignancy mostly occur in young women. Abdominal enlargement and pelvic pain are the usual complaints. Usually they have a capsule, are unilateral and are connected to the broad ligament. Little is known about the biological behavior of the paraovarian borderline malignancies, since these lesions are so rare. The appropriate therapy for this unusual lesion have not been fully defined. We had experienced a case of papillary serous adenocarcinoma of borderline malignancy and report this case with a brief review of literature.
Adenocarcinoma ; Broad Ligament ; Fallopian Tubes ; Female ; Humans ; Pelvic Pain

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate the clinicopathologic prognostic factors and overall survival in patients with uterine endometrial cancer. METHODS: From Jan, 1995 to Dec. 2000, medical records of 98 patients with endometrial cancer treated in Kosin University Gospel Hospital were reviewed and the overall survival of patients was determined by support of the death statistics of Korea National Statistical Office. Survival rate was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test was used for curve comparison, Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The median age of all patients was 53 years. The most common presenting symptom was abnormal vaginal bleeding (65.3%). The most common histological type was endometrioid adenocarcinoma. (85.1%) The overall 5 years survival rate (5YSR) for all 98 patients was 66.8%. The overall 5YSR for premenopause and postmenopause were 80% and 50%, respectively (p=0.08). The overall 5YSR for preop CA-125 level above 35 U/mL, below 35 U/mL were 40%, 80% (p=0.001). The overall 5YSR of stage I, stage II, stage III, stage IV were 86.8%, 76.9%, 39.4%, 14.4% (p=0.001). The overall 5YSR of grade 1, grade 2, grade 3 were 75%, 70%, 45% (p=0.002). The overall 5YSR of myometrium invasion of none, <1/2, >or=1/2, were 84.3%, 80.3%, 57.2% (p=0.004). The overall 5YSR of peritoneal cytology of negative, posivite were 73.4%, 23.8% (p=0.001). The overall 5YSR of lymphnode metastasis negative, positive were 80.1%, 15% (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The age (>50), preop CA-125 level, FIGO surgical stage, grade, myometrial invasion, lymph node metastasis and peritoneal cytology were significant prognostic factors of uterine endometrial cancer affecting 5YSR by univariate analysis. The myometrium invasion and grade were significant prognostic factors affecting 5YSR by multivariate analysis.
Animals ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Endometrial Neoplasms* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Medical Records ; Mice ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myometrium ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Postmenopause ; Premenopause ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Survival Rate ; Uterine Hemorrhage

Rhinophyma is a disfiguring soft tissue hypertrophy of the nose. It is an uncommon disease that primarily affects Caucasian men in the fifth to seventh decades of life. Many treatment methods have been advocated, often with acceptable success, but there appears to be no one modality that is universally endorsed. We present a case of a 70 year old male who was treated with dermabrasion for rhinophyma in the nose.
Aged ; Dermabrasion ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Male ; Nose ; Rhinophyma*

We report a case of intussusception of the cecum and appendix arising in pericecal endometriosis that are mistaken as a cecal tumor preoperatively. At the other OBGY clinic, the 1st lapalotomy was performed for management of leiomyoma but pelvic organs were adhesion severely and palpation mass in the cecum and appendix. The patient was transfer to our hospital for evaluation and treatment of mass. We investigated to intestine closely and diagnosis was cecal tumor colonoscopically. Total hystrectomy and iliocecectomy was performed successfully and discovered intussusception of the cecum and appendix due to endometriosis mistaken as a cecal tumor in operative field. Postoperatively, this case was diagnosed in pericecal endometriosis histologically.
Appendix* ; Cecum* ; Diagnosis ; Endometriosis* ; Female ; Humans ; Intestines ; Intussusception* ; Leiomyoma ; Palpation

BACKGROUND: As a result of endoscopic development and diagnostic technical improvements, the detection rate of early gastric cancer (EGC) has been increased and the prognosis of patients has been improved with surgical treatment. The most important factor for the prognosis of patients with EGC is the presence of regional lymph node metastasis, whose incidence is approximately 3% in patients with intramucosal EGC and 20% in patients with submucosal EGC. Recently, endoscopic resection has become the modality of treatment widely accepted in well selected cases of EGC. We have reviewed the results of endoscopic resection of EGC during 10 years and follow-up. METHODS: Over a ten year period from 1989 to 1999, 47 EGCs were resected endoscopically and the mean age of patients was 62.6 +/- 9.5 years. Thirty-six cases were treated by endoscopic mucosal resection and 11 cases were treated by snare polypectomy. RESULTS: Thirty-five cases were defined as complete resection by pathologic study and 33 cases were enrolled in follow-up study group. During follow-up period, there were 6 cases of death which was not related to the original disease. The mean follow-up duration of the survival group was 36.5 +/- 25.7 months. Local recurrence was detected in 1 case and a new lesion developed on the other site in 1 case. CONCLUSION: It appeared that endoscopic resection is an effective therapeutic procedure for some cases of EGC.
Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; SNARE Proteins ; Stomach Neoplasms*